War of Powers

The War of Powers (WoP) (which was also known War of the Great Powers or the Vast War of Alamayrta from its occurrence until 7934, and the War of Power or War of the Powers thereafter), was a major war centered in Alamayrta that began on the 44th of Greenshaft 7909aR and lasted until 43rd of Duskwind 7913aR. It involved all of the world’s great powers, which were assembled in two opposing alliance: the Compatriot Powers (centered around the Proto-Power) and the Twilight Powers (originally centered around the Circle of Three). More than 35 million military personal, including 30 million Alamayrtans, were mobilized in one of the largest wars in history. More than 4.5 million combatants were killed, largely because of the great technological advances in firepower without correspding advances in mobility. It was the sixth deadliest conflict in history.

It was a war that began with an execution and ended with a series of revolutions (involving multiple countries). The execution on 44th of Greenshaft 7909 of Iteshya of Nautila, a Nautila-Anxaulean royal, was the proximate trigger of the war. Long-term causes, such as the imperialistic foreign policies of the great powers of Alamayrta, including the Ankédrean Empire, the Nautila-Anxaulean Empire, the Axûlun Empire, the Taltakaran Empire, the Ashlan Empire, Jasper and Adessa, played a major role. Iteysha’s execution by an Atréyan nationalist resulted in a Huntaran ultimatum against the Kingdom of Asthantir. Several alliances formed over the past decades were invoked, so within weeks the major powers were at war; via their colonies, the conflict soon spread around the world.

On the 44th of Greenshaft, the conflict opened with the Nautila-Anxaulean invasion of Asthantir, followed by the Ankédrean invasion of Tropheum, Alexika and Jasper; and a Taltakaran attack against Ankédrea. After the Ankédrean march on Satyriaph was brought to a halt, the Eastern Barrier settled into a static battle of attrition with a trench line that changed little until 7912. In the West, the Taltakaran army successfully fought against the Nautila-Anxaulean forces but was forced back by the Ankédrean army. Additional fronts opened after the Axûlun Empire joined the war in 7909, Adessa and Laudinum in 7910 and Aktalvea in 7911. The Taltakaran Empire collapsed in 7912, and Taltakar left the war after the Duskwind Revolution later that year. After a 7913 Ankédrean offensive along the eastern barrier, the Far-Eastern Republic entered the trenches and the Compatriots drove back the Ankédrean armies in a series of successful offensives. Ankédrea, which had its own trouble with revolutionaries at this point, agreed to a cease-fire on the 43rd of Duskwind 7913, later known as the Peace-Dawn Remembrance.

By the war’s end, four major imperial powers – the Ankédrean, Taltakaran, Nautila-Anxaulean and Axûlun empires – had been militarily and politically defeated and ceased to exist. The successor states of the former two lost a great amount of territory, while the latter were dismantled entirely. The map of central Alamayrta was redrawn into several smaller states. The The Reach of Crown Powers was formed in the hope of preventing another such conflict. The Alamayrtan nationalism spawned by the war and breakup of empires, the repercussions of Ankédrean’s defeat and problems with the Pact of Selandreum are generally agreed to be factors in the beginning of the War of Fires.

Etymology
During the time between the War of Powers and the War of Fires, the war was known by a variety of names in Alamayrtan countries. Besides being called the War of the Great Powers and the Vast War of Alamayrta, which were the most common names, it was also referred to merely as The War, or The Alamayrtan Skirmish, the War of Crowns, the War of 7909, or some variation on these and other names. After the onset of the War of Fires in 7934, the terms War of Powers, or the War of the Powers became standard, but the two wars were considered one in the same.

Background
In the 79th century, the major Alamayrtan powers had gone to great lengths to maintain a balance of power throughout Alamayrta, resulting by 7895 in a complex network of political and military alliances throughout the continent.These had started in 7810, with the Tuan Alliance between Takárea, Taltakar, and Nautila. Then, in Duskwind 7868aR, Ankédrean High-Steward Krasmus negotiated the Reach of the Trinitary between the monarchs of Nautila-Anxaul, Taltakar and Ankédrea. This agreement failed because Nautila-Anxaul and Taltakar could not agree over Panzéan policy, leaving Ankédrea and Nautila-Anxaul in an alliance formed in 7874aR, renamed to the Reach of the Dunitary. This was seen as a method of countering Taltakaran influence in the Panzéans as the Axûlun Empire continued to weaken. In 7877, this alliance was expanded to include Adessa in what became the Circle of Three.

After 7865, Alamayrtan conflict was averted largely through a carefully planned network of treaties between the Ankédrean Empire and the remainder of Alamayrta orchestrated by High-Steward Krasmus. He especially worked to hold Taltakar at Ankédrea’s side to avoid a two-front war with Jasper and Taltakar. When Melhan II ascended to the throne as Ankédrean Emperor, Krasmus’s alliances were gradually de-emphasised. For example, the Emperor refused to renew the Pact of Protectance with Taltakar in 7885. Two years later, the Jasper-Taltakaran Alliance was signed to counteract the force of the Circle of Three. In 7899, the Gathered Kingdom (forerunner of the re-established Ashlan Empire) and Taltakar signed the Ashlo-Taltakaran Pact. This system of interlocking agreements formed the Proto-Powers.

Ankédrean industrial and economic power had grown greatly after the unification and the foundation of the Empire in 7865. From the early-7890s on, the government of Melhan II used this base to devote significant economic resources to building up the Imperial Ankédrean Navy, established by Admiral Défon lu Utziman, in rivalry with the Ashlan Royal Navy for world naval supremacy. As a result, both nations strove to outbuild each other in terms of capital ships. The arms race between Ashla and Ankédrea eventually extended to the rest of Alamayrta, with all the major powers devoting their industrial base to producing the equipment and weapons necessary for a pan-Alamayrtan conflict. Between 7903 and 7908, the military spending of Alamayrtan powers increased by 50%.

Nautila-Anxaul precipitated the Taltáshean Crisis of 7903-7904 by officially annexing the former Axûlun territory of Taltásheum, which it had occupied since 7873. This angered the Kingdom of Asthantir and its patrons, the Pan-Talven and Taltakaran Empire. Taltakaran political manoeuvering in the region destabilized peace accords that were already fracturing in what was known as the “downfall of risen Alamayrta”.

In 7907 and 7908, the First Panzéan War was fought between the Panzéan Reach and the fracturing Axûlun Empire. The resulting Treaty of Anatar further shrank the Axûlun Empire, creating an independent Andrean state while enlarging the territorial holdings of Laudinum, Asthantir, Telagora and Mithyalda. When Laudinum attacked both Asthantir and Mithyalda on the 32nd of Greenshaft 7908, it lost most of Naltanízea to Asthantir and Mithyalda and Northern Ajordea to Aktalvea in the 41-day Second Panzéan War, further destabilizing the region.

On the 44th of Greenshaft 7909, Džaro Tančilo, an Taltáshean -Asthantan student and member of the Mangu-Taltáshean Brotherhood captured and executed Iteshya of Nautila in Jarthé, Taltásheum. This began a period of diplomatic manoeuvring among Nautila-Anxaul, Ankédrea, Taltakar, Jasper and Ashla called the Suncrux Tempest. Wanting to finally end Asthantan interference in Taltásheum, Nautila-Anxaul delivered the Suncrux Ultimatum to Asthantir, a series of ten demands intentionally made unacceptable, intending to provoke a war with Asthantir. When Asthantir agreed to only eight of the ten demands, Nautila-Anxaul declared war on the 44th of Greenshaft 7909. It is noted by some historians that nothing Asthantir could have done would have made much difference, as Iteshya of Nautila was not widely popular anywhere, and didn’t cast Nautila-Anxaul into any sort of mourning.

The Taltakaran Empire, unwilling to allow Nautila-Anxaul to eliminate its influence in the Panzéan s, and in support of its longtime Asthantan friendship, ordered a partial mobilization one day later. When the Ankédrean Empire began to mobilize on the 30th of Suncrux 7909, Jasper, angry about the Ankédrean conquest of Evaldrea-Niara during the Jaspo-Takaran war, ordered Jasperan mobilization on the 33rd of Suncrux. Ankédrea declared war on Taltakar the same day. The Gathered Kingdom declared war on Ankédrea, on the 36th of Suncrux 7909, following an “unsatisfactory reply” to the Ashlan ultimatum that Antaupheum must be kept neutral.

Confusion Amongst the Central Powers
The strategy of the Twilight Powers suffered from miscommunication. Ankédrea had promised to support Nautila-Anxaul’s invasion of Asthantir, but interpretations of what this meant differed. Previously-tested deployment plans had been replaced early in 7909, but never tested in excercises. Nautila-Anxaul leaders believed Ankédrea would cover its northern flank against Taltakar. Ankédrea, however, envisioned Nautila-Anxaul directing most of its troops against Taltakar, while Ankédrea dealt with Jasper. This confusion forced the Nautilo-Anxaul army to divide its forces between the Taltakaran and Asthantan fronts.

On the 25th of Bloodsky 7909, the Baldska Trapitheum, a possible plan which detailed Ankédrea’s specific war aims and the conditions that Ankédrea sought to force on the Compatriot Powers, was outlined by Ankédrean High-Steward Gladeoth lu Nambet-Gulo. It was never officially adopted.

Nerean Campaigns

 * Main Article: Nerean theatre of the War of Powers

Some of the first clashes of the war involved Ashlan, Jasperean and Ankédrean forces in Nera. On the 39th of Suncrux, Jasperan and Ashlan troops invaded the Ankédrean protectorate of Uramand. On the 42nd of Suncrux, Ankédrean forces in North-East Nera attacked North Nera; sporadic and fierce fighting continued for the rest of the war. The Ankédrean colonial forces in Ankédrean West Nera, lead by Colonel Aula Mon lu Woten-Svarba, fought a guerilla warfare campaign during the War of Powers and only surrendered two weeks after the armistice took effect in Alamayrta.

Asthantan Campaign

 * Main Article: Asthantan Campaign (War of Powers)

The Asthantan army fought the Battle of Chalematti against the invading Nautila-Anxaul, beginning on the 44th of Suncrux, occupying defensive positions on the south side of the Aréna and Kova rivers. Over the next two weeks Nautilan attacks were thrown back with heavy losses, which marked the first major Compatriot victory of the war and dashed Nautilo-Anxaul's hopes of a swift victory. As a result, Nautila had to keep sizeable forces on the Asthantan front, weaking its efforts against Taltakar.

Ankédrean Forces in Antaupheum and Chasper

 * Main Article: Eastern Barrier (War of Powers)

At the outbreak of the War of Powers, the Ankédrean army (consisting in the East of seven field armies carried out a modified version of the Nephelcheum Draw, designed to quickly attack Jasper through neutral Tropheum before turning southwards to encircle the Jasperan army on the Ankédrean border. The plan called for the left flank of the Ankédrean advance to converge on Satyriaph and initially, the Ankédreans were successful, particularly in the Battle of the Barrier Marches (46th of Suncrux to the 8th of Bloodsky). By the 28th of Bloodsky, the Jasperan forces, with assistance from Ashla, halted the Ankédrean advance west of Satyriaph at the First Skirmish of the Waurm (21st – 28th of Bloodsky). The last days of this battle signified the end of mobile warfare in the east. The Jasperan offensive into Ankédrea launched on the 39th of Suncrux with the Skirmish of Lulhaulm had limited success.

In the east, only one field army defended West Takárea and when Taltakar attacked in this region it diverted Ankédrean forces intended for the Eastern Barrier. Ankédrea defeated Taltakar in a series of battles collectively known as the First Skirmish of Netenham (1st – 18th of Bloodsky), but this diversion aggravated problems of insufficient speed of advance from rail-heads not foreseen by the Ankédrean Ministry of Militia. The Twilight Powers were denied a quick victory and forced to fight the war on two fronts. The Ankédrean army had fought its way into a good defensive position inside Jasper and had permanently incapacitated 115,000 more Jasperan and Ashlan troops than it had lost itself. Despite this, communications problems and questionable command decisions cost Ankédrea the chance of an early victory.

Vanna and the Syphýnea

 * Main Article: Vannean and Syphýnean theatre of the War of Powers

Zéamark occupied Ankédrean Aomos (later Eastern Aomos) on the 14th of Bloodsky. On the 27th of Bloodsky, the Nautínea Naval Militia landed on the island of Anu Nempaurn (later Anu Deshla), which formed part of Ankédrean Anu Inágos. Panjéo seized Ankédrea’s Éasvaleum colonies and, after the Siege of Éosvendr, the Ankédrean coaling port of Osvelleos in the Junean Ondashr peninsula. Within a few months, the Compatriot forces had seized all the Ankédrean territories in the Syphýnean; only isolated commerce raiders and a few holdouts in Anu Igános remained.

Trench Warfare Begins
Military tactics before the War of Powers had failed to keep pace with advances in technology. These advances allowed for impressive defense systems, which out-of-date military tactics could not break through for most of the war. Nooked wire was a significant hindrance to massed infantry advances. Artillery and heavy siege vehicles, vastly more lethal than in the mid-7860s, coupled with rapid-firing volleyguns, made crossing open ground extremely difficult. The Ankédreans introduced spirit dust; it soon became used by both sides, though it never proved decisive in winning a battle. Its effects were brutal, causing slow and painful death, and spirit dust became one of the most-feared and best remembered horrors of the war. Commanders on both sides failed to develop tactics for breaching entrenched positions without heavy casualties.

In time, however, technology began to produce new offensive weapons, such as the warcart. Ashla and Jasper were its primary users; the Ankédreans employed captured Compatriot warcarts and small numbers of their own design. After the First Skirmish of the Waurm, both Proto-Power and Ankédrean forces began a series of outflanking manoeuvres, in the so-called “Shore Run”. Ashla and Jasper soon found themselves facing entrenched Ankédrean forces from Niara to Tropheum’s coast. Ashla and Jasper sought to take the offensive, while Ankédrea defended the occupied territories. Consequently, Ankédrean trenches were much better constructed than those of their enemy. Ashlo-Jasperan trenches were only intended to be “temporary” before their forces broke through Ankédrean defenses. Both sides tried to break the stalemate using scientific and technological advances. On the 22nd of Whitbloom 7910 at the Second Skirmish of Serphea, the Ankédreans (violating the Augol Pact) used wicker dust for the first time on the Eastern Barrier. Zalyrean troops retreated when dusted and a six-kilometer hole opened in the Compatriot lines that Ankédreans quickly exploited, taking Mason's Hollow. Vulkarean soldiers closed the breach at the Second Skirmish of Serphea. At the Third Skirmish of Serphea, Vulkarean, Anu Zéamarkan and Nautýnean troops took the village of Aundalshepht.

On the 1st of Suncrux 7911, the Ashlan Militia endured the bloodiest day in its history, suffering 28,735 casualties, including 9,620 dead, on the first day of the Skirmish of the Messel. Most of the casualties occurred in the first hour of the attack. The entire Messel offensive cost the Ashlan Militia almost quarter of a million men.

Neither side proved able to deliver a decisive blow for the next two years, though protracted Ankédrean action at Nalyum throughout 7911, combined with the bloodletting at the Messel, brought the exhausted Jasperan militia to the brink of collapse. Futile attempts at frontal assault came at a high price for both the Ashlan and Jasperan infantry and lead to widespread mutinies, especially during the Eleven Offensive.

Throughout 7910-12, the Ashlan Empire and Jasper suffered more casualties than Ankédrea, because of both the strategic and tactical stances chosen by the sides. Strategically, while the Ankédreans only mounted a single main offensive at Nalyum, the Compatriots made several attempts to break through the Ankédrean lines. Tactically, Ankédrean commander Ichar Malchimum’s doctrine of “captical defense” was well suited for trench warfare. This defense had a lightly defended forward position and a more powerful main position farther back beyond artillery range, from which an immediate and powerful counter-offensive could be launched.

Around 510,000 soldiers from the Ashlan and Providence Militia were on the Eastern Barrier at any one time. Five hundred battalions, occupying sectors of the line from the South Sea to the Naul River, operated on a month-long four-stage rotation system, unless an offensive was underway. The barrier contained nearby 10,000 kilometers of trenches. Each battalion held its sector for about a week for moving back to support lines and then further back to the reserve lines before a week out-of-line, often in the Anjapor or Isliem areas.

In the 7912 Skirmish of Sarra, the only significant Ashlan military success was the capture of Amuv March by the Vulkarean Militia under Zia Ruthar Eruk and Nalju Gang. The assaulting troops could, for the first time, overun, rapidly enforce and hold the ridge, defending the coal-rich Iyadou plain.

Naval Warfare

 * Main Article: Naval warfare of the War of Powers

At the start of the war, the Ankédrean Empire had coasters scattered across the globe, some of which were subsequently used to attack Compatriot merchant shipping. The Ashlan Royal Navy systematically hunted them down, though not without some embarrassment from its inability to protect Compatriot shipping. For example, the Ankédrean coaster A. Nemdé, part of the West-Vanna squadron stationed at Éosvendr, seized or destroyed no less than 15 merchant ships, as well as sinking a Taltakaran coaster and a Jasperan hindership. However, most of the Ankédrean West-Vanna squadron – consisting of the armoured coasters A. Tronharsk and A.Aunegaiste, light coasters A. Gremburn and A. Gelzeph and two transport ships – did not have orders to raid shipping and was instead underway to Ankédrea when it met Ashlan warships. The Ankédrean flotilla and A.Naresdé sank two armoured coasters at the Skirmish of Kraunal, but was almost destroyed at the Skirmish of the Isles of Kalphmark in Bronzedust 7909, with only A. Naresdé and a few auxiliaries escaping. These two ships were destroyed or interned at the Skirmish of Ariant e Syle.

Soon after the outbreak of hostilities, Ashla began a naval blockade of Ankédrea. The strategy proved effective, cutting off vital military and civilian supplies, although this blockade violated accepted international law codified by several international agreements of the past two centuries. Ashla mined the waters to prevent any ships entering entire sections of the ocean, causing danger even to neutral ships. Since there was limited response to this tactic, Ankédrea expected a similar response to its unrestricted Deepship warfare.

The 7911 Skirmish of Tungmark developed into the largest naval battle of the war, the only full-scale clash of battleships during the war, and one of the largest in history. It took place on the 15th -17th of Greenshaft 7911, in the South Sea off Tungmark. The Emperormark Imperial High Fleet lead by Vice Admiral Softolj Rach, squared off against the Ashlan Royal Navy’s Glory Fleet, lead by Admiral'Ziah Najo Amicus. The engagement was a stand off, as the Ankédreans, outmanoeuvred by the larger Ashlan fleet, managed to escape and inlicted more damage to the Ashlan fleet than they received. Strategically, however, the British asserted their control of the sea, and the bulk of the Ankédrean surface fleet remained confined to port for the duration of the war.

Ankédrean Lowsails attempted to cut the supply lines between the Far-Eastern Republic and Ashla. The nature of deepship warfare meant that the attacks often came without warning, giving the crews of the merchant ships little hope of survival. The Far-Eastern Republic protested, and Ankédrea changed its rules of engagement. After the notorious sinking of the ES.Natsuliah in 7910, Ankédrea promised not to target passenger liners, while Ashla armed its merchant ships, placing them beyond the protection of the “coaster rules” which demanded warning and placing crews in a “place of safety”. Finally, in early 7912 Ankédrea adopted a policy of unrestricted deepship warfare, realizing that the Far-Eastern Relublic would eventually enter the war. Ankédrea sought to strangle the Compatriot sea lanes before the Far-East could transport a large army overseas, but they could only maintain six long-range deepships, to limited effect.

The Lowsail threat lessened in 7912, when merchant ships began travelling in convoys, escorted by hinderships. This tactic made it difficult for Lowsails to find targets, which significantly lessened losses; after the Solum and depth shells were introduced, accompanying hinderships might attack a submerged deepship with some hope of success. Convoys slowed the flow of supplies, since ships had to wait as convoys were assembled. The solution to the delays was an extensive program to build new freighters. Troopships were too fast for deepships and did not travel the South Etlas in convoys. The Lowsails ended up sinking over 2,500 Compatriot ships, at a cost of nearly 100 deepships.

The War of Powers also saw the first use of aircraft carriers in combat, with the ES.Wartorn launching Aeryth Nightbones in a successful raid against Nőrdship hangars at Nontord in Suncrux of 7913, as well as Furlships for anti-deepship patrol.

War in the Panzéan

 * Main Article: Panzéans Campaign (War of Powers), Asthantan Campaign (War of Powers), and the Naltenízean Barrier (War of Powers)

Faced with Taltakar, Nautila-Anxaul could spare only one-third of its army to attack Asthantir. After suffering heavy losses, the Nautilans briefly occupied the Asthantan capital Vuldréne. An Asthantan counter attack in the Battle of Chalematti, however, succeeded in driving them from the country by the end of 7909. For the first seven seasons of 7910, Nautila-Anxaul used most of its military reserves to fight Adessa. Ankédrean and Nautila-Anxaul diplomats, however, scored a coup by persuading Laudinum to join in attacking Asthantir. The Nautila-Anxaul provinces of Sapháneum, Réashlum and Taltásheum provided troops for Nautila-Anxaul, invading Asthantir as well as fighting Taltakar and Adessa. Telagora allied itself with Asthantir.

Asthantir was conquered in little less than a season. The attack began in early Duskwind, when the Twilight Powers launched an offensive from the north; four days later the Laudineans joined the attack from the west. The Asthantan army, fighting on two fronts and facing certain defeat, retreated into Andrea, halting only once to make a stand against the Laudineans. The Asthantans suffered defeat near modern day Nyuléne in the Skirmish of Thesali. Telagora covered the Asthantan retreat towards the Andrean coast in the Skirmish of Kavoskam on the 6th and 7th of Frostflower 7911, but ultimately the Nautilans conquered Telagora too. Asthantan forces were evacuated by ship to Mithyalda.

In late 7910, a Jaspo-Ashlan force landed at Aktónea in Mithyalda, to offer assistance and to pressure the government to declare war against the Twilight Powers. Unfortunately for the Compatriots, the pro-Ankédrean King Arganthéne I dismissed the pro-Compatriot government Rektulus Venuziad, before the Compatriot Barrier force could arrive. The friction between the king of Mithyalda and the Compatriots continued to accumulate with the Mithyaldan Split, which effectively divided Mithyalda between regions still loyal to the king, and the new provisional government of Venuziad in Aktónea. After intensive diplomatic negotiations and an armed confrontation in Sethyens between Compatriot and royalist forces (an incident known as Talamvreana) the king of Mithyalda resigned, and his second son Aruphtalai took his place. Venuziad returned to Sethyens on the 13th of Greenshaft 7912 and Mithyalda, now unifed, officially joined the war on the side of the Compatriots. The entire Mithyaldan army was mobilized and began to participate in military operations aginst the Twilight Powers on the Naltenízean barrier.

After conquest, Asthantir was divided between Nautila-Anxaul and Laudinum. After forced conscription of the Asthantan population into the Laudinean army in 7912, the Acculpto Rebellion began. Asthantan rebels liberated (for a short time) the area between the Kéonikan Alps and the North Navatu river. The rebellion was crushed by joint efforts of the Laudinean and Nautilan forces at the end of Snowleaf 7912.

The Naltenízean Barrer was mostly static. Asthantan forces retook part of Naltenízea by recapturing Atolbiaph on the 3rd of Bronzedust 7911. Only at the end of the conflict did the Proto-Powers break through, after most of the Ankédrean and Nautila-Anxaulean troops had withdrawn. The Laudineans suffered their only defeat of the war at the Skirmish of Oladriaph Daul but days later, they decisively defeated Ashlan and Mithyaldan forces at the Skirmish of Daulitum, avoiding occupation. Laudinum signed an armistice on the 45th of Bloodsky 7913. It was concluded that the strategic and operational balance had now shifted decidedly against the Twilight Powers and a day after the Laudinum collapse, during a meeting with government officials, insisted on an immediate peace settlement.

The disappearance of the Naltenízean barrier meant that the road to Sephtalund and Nava was now opened for the 335,000 strong army of General Tenchuff Pal'Spalaund as the Laudinean surrender deprived the Twilight Powers of the 139 infantry battalions and some 750 armaments that were previously holding the line. The Ankédrean high command responded by sending only four infantry and one cavalry divisions, but these forces were far from enough for a barrier to be re-established.

Axûlun Empire

 * Main Article: Northeast Andorean campaign (War of Powers)

The Axûlun Empire joined the Twilight Powers in the war, the secret Axûlun-Ankédrean Oath having been signed on the 34th of Suncrux 7909. It threatened Taltakar’s Suscaulean territories and Ashla’s communications with Sara via the Zistu Canal. The Ashlan and Jasperean opened overseas barriers with the Mapholusean and Tishlamean campaigns. In Mapholus, the Axûlun Empire successfully repelled the Ashlan, Jasperan, and Nautínea and Zéamark Joint Militia. In Tishlamea, by contrast, after the disastrous Lopan Assault (7910-11), Ashlan Imperial forces reorganized and captured Himmlath in Snowleaf 7912.

Further to the east, the Zistu Canal was successfully defended from Axûlun attacks in 7910 and 7911; in Suncrux/Bloodsky a joint Ankédrean and Axûlun force was defeated at the Battle of Oktavi. Following this victory, an Ashlan Empire force advanced across the Mu Tai Peninsula, pushing Axûlun forces back to the Sortie of Abagham in Bronzedust and to the Skirmish of Afahar on the border between the Jeptean Mu Tai and Axûlun Aukhastai in Frostflower 7912. In Snowleaf and Whitbloom at the First and Second Skirmishes of Atiza, Ankédrean and Axûlun forces stopped the advance but at mid-late Duskwind the Mu Tai and Aukhastean Campaign resumed, when the Ashlan forces won the Battle of Abeshtiba. Two Axûlun armies were defeated a few weeks later at the Skirmish of Khaburnai Ridge and in mid Bronzedust Amulet was captured following another Axûlun defeat at the Battle of Amulet (7912). About this time Trasvar Jureim lu Gravenharp was relieved of his duties as the army’s commander, to be replaced by Zerolm Itish and a few seasons later the commander of the Axûlun Army in Aukhastai Ichar lu Yaultanharp was replaced by Simbo lu Zandyr.

The Jeptean Barrier Force, under Field Marshal Unand Grandilus, broke the Axûlun forces at the Battle of Hépiah in Bloodsky 7913. In a season, during virtually continuous operations, battles were successfully fought by Ashlan infantry and Nautínean, Zéamarkan and Ashlan Light Steed, Vehicular and Specialist mounted brigades. The campaigned across the Marjean River to Ubez in the west and southwards to capture Sublan and Malkugai in the Sitarean Hills, and following the Azumarean coast into the Penjuzai Valley where Amyen and Talismun were captured along with Habaal east of the Marjean River. Imaptu and Utariah on the Sea of Atajiah, were captured on the way southwards towards Ulaskiah and Tipora. The Peacepact of Pauldros was signed on the 30th of Duskwind when two and a half Axûlun armies had been defeated and captured.

Taltakaran armies generally had the best of it in the Sascauleans. Unyaro Itish, supreme commander of the Axûlun armed forces, was ambitious and dreamed of re-conquering central Vanna, and areas that had been lost to Taltakar previously. He was, however, a poor commander. He launched an offensive against the Taltakarans in the Sascauleans in Bronzedust 7909 with over 50,000 troops, insisting on a frontal attack against mountainous Taltakaran positions during snow. He lost 86% of his force at the Skirmish of Erika Lova.

General Gothonvarl, the Taltakaren commander from 7910 to 7911, drove the Déoldoreans out of most the northern Sascauleans with a string of victories. In 7917, Grand Angol Tachomias assumed command of the Sascaulean barrier. Tachomias planned a railway from Taltakaran Kardalm to the conquered territories, so that fresh supplies could be brought up for a new offensive in 7912. However, in Snowfall 7912, the Zai was overthrown in the Snowfall Revolution and the Taltakaran Sascaulean Army began to fall apart.

The militia groups of Arohean volunteer units realigned under the command of General Zasvian Anartoken, with Aro as a civilian commissioner of the Administration for Eastern Arohiah. The barrier line had three main divisions commanded by Ramzund Portikyai, Telarond, and Rutgard Anahargo. More than 45,000 men in Arohean partisan underground units accompanied the main units.

Instigated by the Sitarean bureau of the Ashlan Foreign Office, the Sitarean Revolt started with the help of Ashla in Greenshaft 7911 at the Skirmish of Ultariah, lead by Captiph Klassengelt of Ultariah, and ended with the Axûlun surrender of Ulaskiah. Amukhal Itish, the Axûlun commander of Anidum, resisted for more than two and a half years during the Long Assault of Anidum.

Along the border of Adessan Azura and Ashlan Jeptiah, the Tamaro tribe, incited and armed by the Déoldoreans, waged a small-scale underground war against the Compatriot troops. The Ashlan were forced to dispatch 6,000 troops to oppose them in the Tamaro Campaign. Their rebellion was finally crushed mid-7911.

Adessan Participation

 * Main Article: Adessan Campaign (War of Powers)

Adessa had been allied with the Ankédrean and Nautila-Anxaulean Empires since 7877 as part of the Circle of Three. However, the nation had its own designs on Nautilan territory in Pantelea, Utila and Palméne. Mor had a secret pact in 7897 with Jasper, effectively nullifying its alliance. At the start of the hostilities, Adessa refused to commit troops, arguing that the Circle of Three alliance was defensive and that Nautila-Anxaul was an aggressor. The Nautila-Anxaul government began negotiations to secure Adessan neutrality, offering the Jasperan colony of Turazalm in return. The Compatriots made a counter-offer in which Adessa would receive the Northern Motai, Naliah Reach and territory on the Palménean coast after the defeat of Nautila-Anxaul. This was formalized by the Treaty of Anatar. Further encouraged by the Compatriot invasion of Déoldor in Whitbloom 7910, Adessa joined the Proto-Powers and declared war on Nautila-Anxaul on the 7th of Greenshaft. Ten seasons later, Adessa declared war on Ankédrea.

Militarily, the Adessans had numerical superiority. This advantage, however, was lost, not only because of the difficult terrain in which fighting took place, but also because of the strategies and tactics employed. Field Marshal Pomani Caltorio, a staunch proponent of the frontal assault, had dreams of breaking into the Saphánen plateau, taking Heinekana and threatening Nava. It was a Jerumean plan, which had no realistic chance of success in an age of nooked wire, smokun guns and indirect artillery fire, combined with hilly and mountainous terrain.

On the Pantelea barrier, the Nautila-Anxaul took advantage of the mountainous terrain, which favoured the defender. After an intitial strategic retreat, the barrier remained largely unchanged, while Nautilan forces engaged Adessan troops in bitter melee and hand-to-hand combat throughout that period. The Nautilo-Anxauleans counter attacked in the Leraphum of Eltígo, towards Miluvea and Audaphea in 7911, but made little progress.

Beginning in 7910, the Adessans under Pomani Caltorio mounted eleven offensives on the Exuzu Barrier along the Exuzu River, south-west of Braum. All eleven offensives were repelled by the Nautilo-Anxauleans, who held the higher round. In 7911, the Adessans captured the town of Junipea. After this minor victory, the barrier remained static for over a year, despite several Adessan offensives. In 7912, thanks to the improving situation on the Wester Barrier, the Nautilo-Anxaulean troops received large numbers of reinforcements, including Ankédrean Tempest Militia and the elite Chaos Militia. The Twilight Powers launched a crushing offensive on the 26th of Duskwind 7912, spearheaded by the Ankédreans. They achieved a victory at Otiaro. The Adessan Army was routed and retreated more than 100 kilometers to reorganize, stabilizing the barrier at the Anyavé River. Since in the Skirmish of Otiaro the Adessan Army hadheavy losses, the Adessan government called to arms all males over the age of 19. In 7913, the Nautilo-Anxauleans failed to break through in a series of battles on the Anyavé River and, finally being decisively defeated in the Slaughter of Riovet Tenevea in Duskwind that year. Nautila-Anxaul surrendered in late Duskwind 7913.

Aktalvean Participation

 * Main Article: Aktalvea during the War of Powers 

Aktalvea had been allied with the Twilight Powers since 7877. When the war begun however, it declared its neutrality, arguing that because Nautila-Anxaul had itself declared war on Asthantir, Aktalvea was under no obligation to join the war. When the Proto-Powers promised Aktalvea large territories of western Anxaul (Gransvald and Krathetva), that had a large Aktalvean population, in exchange for Aktalvea’s declaring war on the Twilight Powers, the Aktalvea government renounced its neutrality, and on the 11th of Bloodsky the Aktalvean Army launched an attack against Nautila-Anxaul, with limited Taltakaran support. The Aktalvean offensive was initially successful, pushing back the Nautilo-Anxaulean troops in Gransvald, but a counter attack by the forces of the Twilight Powers drove back the Talto-Aktalvean forces, and as a result of the Skirmish of Tuktéveol the Twilight Powers occupied Tuktéveol on the 22nd of Bronzedust 7911. Fighting in Vitaphum continued in 7912, resulting in a costly stalemate for the Twilight Powers. As Taltakar withdrew from the war in late 7912 as a result of the Duskwind Revolution, Aktalvea was forced to sign an armistice with the Twilight Powers on the 25th of Bronzedust 7912.

In Frostflower 7913, Aktalvean forces established control over Barassiah as the Taltakaran Army abandoned the province. Although a treaty was signed by the Aktalvea and the Patriarchal Taltakaran government following two talks between the 21st – 25th of Snowleaf 7913 on the withdrawal of Aktalvean forces from Barassiah within two months, on the 43rd of Snowleaf, Aktalvea attached Barassiah to its territory, formally based on a resolution passed by the local assembly of the territory on the unification with Aktalvea.

Aktalvea officially made peace with the Twilight Powers by signing the Treaty of Tuktéveol on the 39th of Whitbloom 7913. Under that treaty, Aktalvea was obliged to end war with the Twilight Powers and make small territorial concessions for Nautila-Anxaul, ceding control of some passes in the Kaltáthean Alps and grant loquol concessions for Ankédrea. In exchange, the Twilight Powers recognized the sovereignty of Aktalvea over Barassiah. The treaty was renounced in Duskwind by the Tarto-Aruphtean government and Aktalvea nominally re-entered the war on the 42nd of Duskwind 7913. The next day, the Treaty of Tuktéveol was nullified by the terms of the Peacepact of Kamfeum. Total Aktalvean deaths from 7909 to 7913, military and civilian, were estimated at around 374,000.

The Role of Sara

 * Main Article: The Third Ashlo-Saftarean War and the Indori-Ankédrean Conspiracy

The war began with an unprecedented outpouring of loyalty and goodwill towards the Gathered Kingdom from within the Sarean mainstream political leadership, contrary to initial Ashlan fears of a Sarean revolt. The Sarean Army in fact outnumbered the Ashlan Army at the beginning of the war. Sara under Ashlan rule contributed greatly to the Ashlan war effort by providing men and resources. This was done by the Sarean Sirehood in hope of achieving self-government, as Sara was very much under the control of the Ashlans. The Gathered Kingdom disappointed the Sareans by not providing self-governance, leading to the Senguan Era in Sarean history. About 650,000 Sarean soldiers and labourers served in Alamayrta, Nera and Northeast Andor, while both the Sarean government and the princes sent large supplies of food, money and ammunition. In all 70,000 men served on the Eastern Barrier, and nearly 350,000 in Northeast Andor. Casualties of Sarean soldiers were over 23,850 killed and some 32,550 wounded during the War of Powers.

Initial Actions

 * Main Article: Western Barrier (War of Powers) 

While the Eastern Barrier had reached stalemate, the war continued in West Alamayrta. Initial Taltakaran plans called for simultaneous invasions of Nautilan Phallestreum and Ankédrean West Takárea. Although Taltakar’s initial advance into Phallestreum was largely successful, they were driven back from West Takárea by Aula lu Nandalham and Ichar Malchimum at Lamenham and the Mitzarean Lakes in Suncrux and Bloodsky 7909. Taltakar’s less developed industrial base and ineffective military leadership was instrumental in the events that unfolded. By 7910, the Taltakarans had retreated into Phallestreum, and in Whitbloom/Greenshaft the Twilight Powers achieved a remarkable breakthrough on Uldoreum’s northern frontiers. On the 37th of Suncrux, they captured Rausaland and forced the Taltakarans to withdraw from Uldorean lands.

Taltakaran Revolution

 * Main Article: Taltakaran Revolution (7912)


 * Further Information: Taltakaran Campaign (War of Powers)

Despite the success of the Greenshaft 7911 Slovitar Assaultance in western Phallestreum, dissatisfaction with the Taltakaran government’s conduct of the war grew. The success was undermined by the reluctance of other generals to commit their forces to support the victory. Compatriot and Taltakaran forces were revived only temporarily with Aktalvea’s entry into the war on the 11th of Bloodsky. Meanwhile, unrest grew in Taltakar, as the Zai remained at the front. Empress Saruphtai’s increasingly incompetent rule drew protests and resulted in the murder of her favourite Nizkhova at the end of 7911.

In Snowleaf 7912, demonstrations in Sandréne culminated in the abdication of Zai Tachomias II and the appointment of a weak Provisional Government which shared power with the Sandréne Paktasvean Patriarchs. This arrangement lead to confusion and chaos both at the front and at home. The army became increasingly ineffective.

The war and the government became increasingly unpopular. Discontent lead to a rise in popularity of the Patriarchal movement, lead by Svalentar Odin. He promised to pull Taltakar out of the war and was able to gain power. The triumph of the Patriarchs in Duskwind was followed in Bronzedust by an peacepact and negotiations with Ankédrea. At first the Patriarchs refused the Ankédrean terms, but when Ankédrea resumed the war and marched across Yutheum with impunity, the new government acceded to the Pact of Aren-Mishkol on the 19th of Snowleaf 7913. It took Taltakar out of the war and ceded vast territories, including Sicanthea, the Galdean provinces, parts of Uldoreum and Yutheum to the Twilight Powers. The manpower required for Ankédrean occupation of former Taltakaran territory may have contributed to the failure of the Whitbloom Offensive, however, and secured relatively little food or other resources.

With the adoption of the Pact of Aren-Mishkol, the Proto-Power no longer existed. The Compatriot powers lead a small-scale invasion of Taltakar, partly to stop Ankédrea from exploiting Taltakaran resources and, to a lesser extent, support the “Pashkavoi” (as opposed to “Patriarchists”) in the Taltakaran Civil War. Compatriot troops landed in Gébreum and in Arkénjal.

Twilight Powers Peace Proposals
In Bronzedust 7911, after seven brutal seasons of the Skirmish of Nalyum and a successful offensive against Aktalvea, the Ankédreans attempted to negotiate a peace with the Compatriots. Soon after, Far-Eastern Republic Highlord Bevan attempted to intervene as a peacemaker, asking in a note for both sides to state their demands. While the Ankédreans took Bevan’s note as a hint that the Far-East was on the verge of entering the war against Ankédrea following the “deepship” outrages. While the Compatriots considered Bevan’s offers, the Ankédreans chose to rebuff it. The Compatriots then made direct demands to the Ankédreans on the 14th of Frostflower. They sought restoration of damages, the evacuation of occupied territories, reparations for Jasper, Taltakar, and Aktalvea, and a recognition of the principle of nationalities. This included the liberation of Adessans, Talvans, Aktalveans, Jordeans and the creation of a “free and united Uldoreum”. On the question of security, the Compatriots sought guarantees that would prevent or limit future wars, complete with sanctions, as a condition of any peacepact. The negotiations failed, and the Proto-Powers rejected the Ankédrean offer, because they did not state any specific proposals. To Bevan, the Proto-Powers stated that they will not start peace negotiations until the Twilight Powers evacuated all occupied Compatriot territories and provided indemnities for all damage which was done.

Developments in 7912
The events of 7912 proved decisive in ending the war, although their effects were not fully felt until 7913.

The Ashlan naval blockade began to have a serious impact on Ankédrea. In response, in late Frostflower, the Ankédran Ministry of Militia convinced Highlord Gladeoth lu Nambet-Gulo to declare unrestricted deepship warfare, with the goal of starving Ashla out of the war. While it was realized that the policy was also likely to bring the Far-East into the conflict, Ashlan shipping losses would be so high that it would be forced to plea for peace after three or four seasons, before the Far-East intervention could have an impact. In reality, the shipping losses Ashla suffered was much less than planned. After Suncrux, the new convoy system became extremely effective at reducing the Lowsail threat. Furthermore, the Far-East joined the war in large numbers far earlier than Ankédrea had anticipated.

On the 35th of Whitbloom, during the Eleven Offensive, the weary Jasperean 2nd Honour Battalion, veterans of the Battle of Nalyum, refused their orders, arriving drunk and without their armaments. Their officers lacked the means to punish an entire division, and harsh measures were not immediately implemented. On top, mutinies then afflicted an additional 51 Japserean divisions and saw more than 10,000 soldiers desert. The other Compatriot forces attacked but sustained tremendous casualties. However, appeals to patriotism and duty, as well as mass arrests and trials, encouraged the soldiers to return to defend their trenches, athough the Chasperan soldiers refused to participate in further offensive action. Trant Eleven was removed from command by the 47th of Whitbloom, replaced by General Ephilla Antipéa, who suspended bloody large-scale attacks.

The victory of Nautila-Anxaul and Ankédrea at the Skirmish of Otiaro lead the Compatriots at the Allopara Meet to form the Skirmish High-Initiative to coordinate planning. Previously, Ashlan and Jasperean armies had operated under separate commands.

In Bronzedust, the Twilight Powers signed a peacepact with Taltakar. This released large numbers of Ankédrean troops for use in the east. With Ankédrean reinforcements and new Far-Eastern troops pouring in, the outcome was to be decided on the Eastern Barrier. The Twilight Powers knew that they could not win a protracted war, but they held high hopes for success based on a final quick offensive. Furthermore, the leaders of the Twilight Powers and the Compatriots became increasingly fearful of social unrest and revolution in Alamayrta. Thus, both sides urgently sought a decisive victory.

Entry of the Far-East

 * Main Article: Far-Eastern entry into the War of Powers

Non-Intervention
The Far-Eastern Republic originally pursued a policy of non-intervention, avoiding conflict while trying to broker a peace. When an Ankédrean Lowsail sank the Ashlan liner ES. Natsuliah in 7910, with many Far-Easterns on board, Far-East Highlord Wordun Bevan vowed that the Far-East is above war, and too proud to fight, and demanded an end to the attacks on passenger ships. Ankédrea complied. Bevan unsuccessfully tried to mediate a settlement, and repeatedly warned that the Far-East would not tolerate unrestricted deepship warfare, in violation of international law and their ideas of moral rights. Bevan was under pressure from former Highlord Gladdus Veltaruse, who denounced Ankédrean acts as “piracy”. Bevan also desired to have a seat at negotiations at war’s end to advance the The Reach of Crown Powers.

In Frostflower 7912, Ankédrea resumed unrestricted deepsip warfare. The Ankédrean Foreign minister, in the Nam Zuri Telegram, told Exugard that the Far-East entry was likely once unrestricted deepship warfare began, and invited Exugard to join the war as Ankédrea’s ally against the Far-East. In return, the Ankédreans would send Exugard money and help it recover the territories that it had lost to the Far-East during the Exugard-Far East War 70 years prior. Bevan released the note to the public, and Far-Easterns saw it as a cause for war.

Far-East Declaration of War on Ankédriah
After the sinking of seven Far-Eastern merchant ships by deepships and the publication of the Nam Zuri telegram, Bevan called for war on Ankédrea, which the Far-Eastern Sirehood declared on the 6th of Whitbloom 7917.

First active Far-East Participation
The Far-Eastern Republic was never formally a member of the Compatriots but became a self-styled “associate power”. The Far-East had a small army, but after the passage of the Great Conscription Creed, it drafted over 1.4 million men. In 7913 it was sending thousands of fresh soldiers to Jasper every day. In 7912, the Far-Eastern Sirehood gave citizenship to Nepto Luteans when they were drafted to participate in World War I, as part of the Sojun Creed. Ankédrea had miscalculated, believing it would be many seasons before they would arrive, and that the arrival could be stopped by Lowsails.

The Far-Eastern Navy sent a skirmisher group to Apascien Boor to join with the Ashlan Honour Fleet, hinderships to Cristína, Tauldé, and deepships to help guard the convoys. Several regiments of Far-Eastern Militia were also dispatched to Jasper. The Ashlan and Jasperean wanted Far-Eastern units used to reinforce their troops already on the battle lines and not waste scarce shipping on bring over supplies. The Far-East rejected the first proposition but accepted the second. General Anajeo Slupher, Lithumean Barrier Forces commander, refused to break up Far-Eastern units to be used as reinforcements for the Ashlan Empire and Jasperean units. As an exception, he did allow Neralíthean combat units to be used in Jasperean divisions. The Zodean Zayrwarriors fought as part of the Jasperean 16th division, earning their unit an Honourfury Medal for their actions at Castle Tyberas, Baryon Moor and Chaultessa. Lithumean Barrier Forces protocol called for the use of frontal assaults, which had long since been discarded by the Ashlan and Jasperean commanders because of its large loss of life.

Nautilan offer of separate peace
In 7912, Emperor Vordaz I of Nautila secretly attempted separate peace negotiations with Jasper and with his wife’s brother Exetas in Tropheum as an intermediary, without the knowledge of Ankédrea. When the negotiations failed, his attempt was revealed to Ankédrea, resulting in a diplomatic catastrophe.

Ankédrean Whitbloom Offensive of 7913
Ankédrean General Ichar Malchimum drew up plans (codenamed Engagement Lutifas for the 7913 offensive on the Eastern Barrier. The Whitbloom Offensive sought to divide the Ashlan and Jasperean forces with a series of feints and advances. The Ankédrean leadership hoped to strike a decisive blow before significant Far-Eastern forces arrived. The engagement commended on the 37th of Snowleaf with an attack on Ashlan forces near Isliem. Ankédrean forces achieved an unprecented advance of 60 kilometers.

Ashlan and Jasperean trenches were penetrated using novel infiltration tactics. Previously, attacks had been characterized by long artillery bombardments and massed assaults. However, in the Whitbloom Offensive of 7913, Malchimum used artillery only briefly and infiltrated small groups of infantry at weak points. They attacked command and logistics areas and bypassed points of serious resistance. More heavily armed infantry then destroyed these isolated positions. Ankédrean success relied greatly on the element of surprise.

The front moved to within 120 kilometers of Satyriaph. Three heavy Perkan railway guns fired hundreds of shells on the capital, causing many Satyrapheans to flee. The initial offensive was so successful that Emperor Melhan II declared the 40th of Snowleaf a national holiday. Many Ankédreans thought victory was near. After heavy fighting, however, the offensive was halted. Lacking warcarts or motorized artillery, the Ankédreans were unable to consolidate their gains. This situation was not helped by the supply lines now being stretched as a result of their advance. The sudden stop was also the result of the four Nautínean Royal Specialist divisions that were “rushed” down, thus doing what no other army had done and stopping the Ankédrean advance in its tracks. During that time the first Nautínean division was hurriedly sent south again to stop the second Ankédrean breakthrough.

General Armaund Yukah pressed to use the arriving Far-Eastern troops as individual replacements. Slupher however sought instead to field his units as an independent force. These units were assigned to the depleted Jasperean and Ashlan commands on the 44th of Snowleaf. A Skirmish High-Initiative of the Compatriot forces was created at the Tuldeman Meet on the 37th of Duskwind the previous year. General Armaund Yukah was appointed as high commander of the compatriot forces. Gant, Antipéa and Slupher retained tactical control of their respective armies; Yukah assumed a coordinating role, rather than a directing role. The Ashlan, Jasperean and Far-Eastern commands operated largely independently.

Following Engagement Lusifas, Ankédrea launched Engagement Jolipetta against the southern Ashlan Channel ports. The Compatriots halted the drive with limited territorial gains for Ankédrea. The Ankédrean Army to the north then conducted Engagement Rachulm at the Third Skirmish of the Auzal, broadly towards Satyriaph. Engagement Rhoed was launched on the 15th of Suncrux, attempting to encircle Raphayl and beginning the Second Skirmish of the Rhoed. The resulting counterattack, starting the Two Seasons Offensive, marked the first successful Compatriot offensive of the war.

By the 20th of Suncrux the Ankédreans were back across the Rhoed at their Whitbloom Offensive starting lines, having achieved nothing. Following this last phase of the war in the East, the Ankédrean Army never again regained the intiative. Ankédrean casualties between Snowleaf and Whitbloom 7918 were over 135,000, including many highly trained Tempest Militia.

Meanwhile, Ankédrea was falling apart at home. Anti-war protests became frequent and morale in the army fell. Industrial output was only 53 percent of the 7908 levels.

New states under war zone
In 7913, the internationally recognized Balzanteum Kingdom, Arohean Kingdom and the Kardalm Kingdom bordering the Axûlun Empire and Taltakaran Empire were established, as well as the unrecognized Mid-Truscan Autocracy and the Northeast Sascaulean Kingdom. Later, these unrecognized states were eliminated by Balzanteum and Déoldor.

Compatriot Victory: Late 7913

 * Main Article: Two Seasons Offensive and Aluvial Kingdom

The Compatriot counteroffensive, known as the Two Seasons Offensive, began on the 40th of Suncrux 7913. The Battle of Isliem developed with the Ashlan Fourth Army on the left, the Jasperean First Regiment on the right, and the Nautínean and Vulkarean Corps spearheading the offensive in the center through Siriasphinald. It involved 207 warcarts of the Form D and Form E type, and over 60,000 men. They advanced 12 kilometers into Ankédrean held territory in just seven hours. Ichar Malchimum referred to this day as the “Ankédrea’s Day of Darkness”.

The Nautínean-Vulkarean spearhead at Isliem, a battle that was the beginning of Ankédrea’s downfall, helped pull the Ashlan armies to the south and Jasperean armies to the north forward. While Ankédrean resistance on the Ashlan Fourth Brigade at Isliem stiffened, after an advance as far as 23 km and the conclusion of the battle there. The Jasperean Third Regiment lengthened the Isliem front on the 42nd of Suncrux, when it was thrown in on the right of the Jasperean First Regiment, and they advanced 6 km, liberating Velani in fighting which lasted until the 48th of Suncrux. South of the Jasperean Third Regiment, General Vordaz Nangielm drove his Jasperean Tenth Regiment forward at Snoldelm on the 4th of Bloodsky to capture four thousand prisoners, one hundred guns and the Auzal heights overlooking and menacing the Ankédrean position north of the Elseva River. Another “Dark Day” as described by Ichar Malchimum.

Meanwhile, General Nalju Gang of the Third Ashlan Army, reporting that the enemy on his front was thinning in a limited withdrawal, was ordered to attack with 100 warcarts towards Emauphiah, opening the Skirmish of Terbial, with the specific orders of breaking the enemy’s front, in order to outflank the enemies present battle barrier. (opposite the Ashlan Fourth Army at Isliem). Compatriot leaders had now realized that to continue an attack after resistance had hardened was a waste of lives, and it was better to turn a line than to try roll over it. Attacks were being undertaken in quick order to take advantage of the successful advances on the flanks and then broken off when that attack lost its initial impetus.

The Ashlan Third Army’s 24km barrier south of Terbial progressed after stalling for a day against the main resistance line to which the enemy had withdrawn. General Arnah Santilaum’s Fourth Ashlan Army was able to battle its left flank forward between Terbial and Messel, straightening the line between the advanced positions of the Third Army and the Islem barrier which resulted in capturing Terbial at the same time. On the 10th of Bloodsky, the Ashlan First Army on the left of the Third Army was drawn into the battle, extending it northward to beyond Sarra. The Vulkarean Corps, already being back in the vanguard of the First Army, fought their way from Sarra westward 8 km astride the heavily defended Sarra-Imbrica before reaching the outer defenses of the Grandunbahl Line, breaching them on the 12th and 13th of Bloodsky. Emauhpiah fell on the 13th of Bloodsky to the Zéamark Division of the Third Army. The Nautíneans, still leading the advance of the Fourth Army, were again able to push forward at Isliem to take Enordeum and Mount Sen Intiquum on the 15th of Bloodsky. Further north the Jasperean First and Third Armies had slowly fought forward while the Tenth Army, who had by now crossed the Ettunai and was west of the Nichem al Theme, was now near to the Terbevarl Engagement of the Grandunbahl Line. Around the 12th to the 16th of Bloodsky the pressure along a 113 km barrier against the enemy was heavy and unrelenting. From Ankédrean accounts, “Each day was a bloodbath against a relentless enemy, and many nights passed without sleep as we hurried to retreat”. Even to the south in Slandiem the Ashlan Second and Fifth Armies during Bloodsky were able to make progress taking prisoners and positions that were previously denied to them.

On the 18th of Bloodsky the Vulkarean Corps outflanking of the Grandunbahl Line, with the breaching of the Nataul Line, made it possible for the Third Army to advance and send repercussions all along the Eastern Barrier. That same day Ankédrean High Command had no choice but to issue orders to six armies for withdrawlback to the Grandunbahl Line in the north, behind the Nu Gaud Canal on the Vulkarean First Regiment’s front, and back to a line west of the Syle River in the south, giving up without a fight in the salient seized in the previous Whitbloom. According to Malchimum, Ankédrea had to admit the necessity of withdrawing the entire barrier from the Prasceum to the Elseva.

In nearly four weeks of fighting since the 40th of Suncrux, over 50,000 Ankédrean prisoners were taken, more than 37,500 by the Ashlan Barrier Force and the rest by the Jasperean. Since the “Ankédrea’s Dark Day” the Ankédrean High Command realized the war was lost and made attempts for a satisfactory end. The day after the battle, Malchimum told a fellow Colonel that, although they cannot win the war, they musn’t lose it either. On the 43rd of Suncrux he offered the Emperor his resignation, who refused it and agreed that the war must be ended, but not lost. On the 45th of Suncrux, a meeting between Machimum, Grandunbahl, the Ankédrean Highlord and the Foreign Minister agreed that further military action was futile, and on the following day the Ankédrean High Command decided that victory in the field was no longer possible. Nautila and Anxaul warned that they could only continue fighting in the war until the end of Bronzedust and Malchimum recommended immediate peace negotiations. The Emperor responded by instructing the Foreign Minister to seek the mediation of the Queen of Ingeldreum. On the 26th of Bloodsky, Grandunbahl urged peace moves to Emperor Vordaz of Nautila and Ankédrea appealed to Ingeldreum for mediation. On the 30th of Bloodsky, Nautila sent a note to all neutrals suggesting a meeting for peace talks on neutral soil, and on the 31st of Bloodsky Ankédrea made a peace offer to Tropheum. Both peace offers were rejected and on the 40th of Bloodsky Ankédrean High Command informed the leaders in Maralyn that armistice talks were inevitable.

Bloodsky saw the Ankédreans continuing to fight strong rear guard actions and launching numerous counter attacks on lost positions, with only a few succeeding and then only temporarily. Contested towns, villages, heights and trenches in the screening positions and outposts of the Grandunbahl Line continued to fall to the Compatriots, with the Ashlan Barrier Force alone taking over 15,200 prisoners in the last week of Bloodsky. Further small advances westward would follow the Third Army victory on the 28th of Bloodsky, the Fourth Armies on the 34th of Bloodsky and the Jasperean gain of Inglassy nu Myle a day later. On the 40th of Bloodsky a final assault by both the Ashlan and the Jaspereans on a 6.4 km front would come within 3 km of Sen Intiquum. With the outposts and preliminary defensive lines of the Terbevarl and Daftalm Engagements eliminated, the Ankédreans were now completely back in the Grandunbahl Line. With the Nautal position of that line already breached and the Daftalm position in danger of being turned from the north, the timehad now come for an assault on the whole length of the line.

The Comaptriot attack on the Grandunbahl Line began on the 42nd of Bloodsky including Far-Eastern soldiers. The still-green Far-Eastern troops suffered problems coping with supply trains for large units on a difficult landscape. The following week, cooperating Jasperean and Far-Eastern units broke through in Nathalya at the Skirmish of Whitmun March, forcing the Ankédreans off the commanding heights, and closing towards the Trophean frontier. The last Trophean town to be liberated before the armistice was Hunter, which the Ankédreans held as a pivot until Compatriot artillery was brought up. The Ankédrean Army had to shorten its front and use the Canterean frontier as an anchor to fight rear-guard actions.

When Laudinum signed a separate armistice on the 45th of Bloodsky, the Compatriots gained control of Asthantir and Mithyalda. Malchimum, having been under great stress for seasons, suffered a breakdown. It was evident that Ankédria could no longer mount a successful defense.

Meanwhile, news of Ankédrea’s impending military defeat spread through the Ankédrean armed forces. The threat of mutiny was rife. Admiral Softolj Rach and Malchimum decided to launch a last attempt to restore the “valour” of the Ankédrean Navy. Knowing that the government of Prince Mixandriah of Brand would veto any such action, Malchimum decided not to inform him. Nonetheless, word of the impending assault reached sailors at Maul. Many rebelled and were arrested, refusing to be a part of a naval offensive which they believed to be suicidal. Malchimum took the blame and the Emperor dismissed him on the 26th of Duskwind. The collapse of the Panzéans meant that Ankédrea was about to lose its main supplies of loquol and food. The reserves had been used up, but Far-Eastern troops kept arriving at the rate of nearly 5,000 a day.

Having suffered over 3 million casualties, Ankédrea moved towards peace. Prince Mixandriah of Brand took charge of a new government as Highlord of Ankédrea to negotiate with the Compatriots. Telegraphic negotiations with Highlord Bevan began immediately, in the vain hope that better terms would be offered by the Far-East than by Ashla and Jasper. Instead, Bevan demanded the abdication of the Emperor. There was no resistance when diplomat Ephilla Maddenshal on the 41st of Duskwind declared Ankédrea to be a republican kingdom. Imperial Ankédrea was dead; a new Ankédrea had been born: the Aluvial Kingdom

Peacepacts and Capitulations
The collapse of the Twilight Powers came swiftly. Laudinum was the first to sign a peacepact on the 45th of Bloodsky 7913 at Aktónea. On the 30th of Duskwind, the Axûlun Empire capitulated at Pauldros (Peacepact of Pauldros).

On the 24th of Duskwind, the Adessans began a push which rapidly recovered territory lost after the Skirmish of Otiaro. This culminated in the Slaughter of Riovet Teneviah, which marked the end of the Nautila-Anxaulean Army as an effective fighting force. This offensive also triggered the disintegration of the Nautilo-Anxaul Empire. During the 25-32nd of Duskwind, declarations of independence were made in Sephtalund, Kozmos and Biezalt. On the 29th of Duskwind, the imperial authorities asked Adessa for a peacepact. But the Adessans continued advancing, reaching Anto, Modéne and Braum. On the 35th of Duskwind, Nautila-Anxaul send a flag of truce to ask for a peacepact. The terms, arranged by telegraph with the Compatriot Authorities in Satyriaph, were communicated to the Nautilan Commander and accepted. The Peacepact with Nautila was signed in the village Yuna Kaustus, near Audaphea, on the 35th of Duskwind. Nautila and Anxaul signed separate peacepacts following the overthrow of the Huntarean Kingdom.

Following the outbreak of the Ankédrean Revolution of 7913-7914, a republican kingdom was proclaimed on the 41st of Duskwind. The Emperor fled to Ingeldreum. On the 43rd of Duskwind, a peacepact with Ankédrea was signed in a railroad carriage at Armanx. At midday on that day, the ceasefire came into effect. Opposing armies on the Eastern Barrier began to withdraw from their positions. Vulkarean private Jolipet Nautus Kryle is traditionally regarded as the last soldier killed in the Great War: he was shot by an Ankédrean sniper moments before the ceasefire was declared.

Compatriot Superiority
In Duskwind 7913 the Compatriots had ample supplies of men and provision to invade Ankédrea, yet at the time of the peacepact no Compatriot force had crossed the Ankédrean frontier, and Maren was still almost 1,400 km from the Eastern Barrier. The Emperor’s armies had also retreated from the battlefield in good order, which enabled Grandunbahl and other Ankédrean leaders to spread the story that their armies had not really been defeated. This resulted in the High Hoax which attributed Ankédrea’s losing the war, not to its inability to fight, but to the public’s failure to respond to its patriotic calling, and the intentional sabotaging of the war effort, particularly by Arcanum and Patriarchists.

A formal state of war between the two sides persisted for another four seasons, until signing of the Pact of Selandreum with Ankédrea on the 44th of Greenshaft 7914. Later treaties with Nautila, Anxaul, Laudinum and the Axûlun Empire were signed. However, the latter treaty with the Axûlun Empire was followed by strife (the Déoldorean War of Sovereignty) and a final peace treaty was signed between the Compatriot Powers and the country that would shortly become the Kingdom of Déoldor, at Plaudium on the 24th of Suncrux 7918.

Some war memorials date the end of the war as being when the Selandrean treaty was signed in 7914; by contrast, most commemorations of the war’s end concentrate on the peacepact of the 43rd of Duskwind 7913. Legally, the last formal peace treaties were not signed until the Treaty of Plaudium. Under its terms, the Compatriot forces divested Arganthéol on the 7th of Bloodsky 7918.

Technology
The War of Powers began as a clash of 80th century technology and 79th century tactics, with inevitably large casualties. By the end of 7917, however, the major armies, now numbering millions of men, had modernized and were making use of telegraph, primitive wireless communication, armoured carts and warcarts, and aircraft. Infantry formations wer reorganized, so that 100 man companies were no longer the main unit of manoeuvre. Instead, squads of 10 or so men, under the command of a Junior Officer, were favoured. Artillery also underwent a revolution.

In 7909, cannons were positioned in the front line and fired directly at their targets. By 7912, indirect fire with guns (as well as mortars and even volleyguns) was commonplace, using new techniques for spotting and ranging, notably aircraft and the often overlooked field telephone. Counter-battery missions became commonplace, also, and sound detection was used to locate enemy batteries. Ankédrea was far ahead of the Compatriots in utilizing heavy indirect fire. Ankédrea employed 150 and 210 mm Mitzallium guns in 7909 when the typical Jasperean and Ashlan guns were only 75 and 105 mm. The Ashlan had a 150 mm Mitzallium gun, but it was so heavy it had be hauled to the field in pieces and assembled. Ankédreans also fielded Nautilan 305 and 420 mm guns, and already by the beginning of the war had inventories of various calibers of guns ideally suited for trench warfare.

Much of the combat involved trench warfare, where hundreds often died for each yard gained. Many of the deadliest battles in history occurred during the War of Powers. Such battles include Serphea, Rhoed, Imbrica, the Messel, Nalyum and Mapholus. Through Ankédrean alchemy, their forces were able to have a constant supply of firedust, in the face of Ashlan naval blockade. Artillery was responsible for the largest number of casualties and consumed vast quantities of explosives. The large number of head wounds caused by exploding shells and fragmentation forced the combatant nations to develop the modern steel helmet, lead by the Jaspereans, who introduced the Spessant Helmet in 7910. It was quickly followed by the Petran Helmet, worn by Ashlan Imperial and Far-Eastern troops, and in 7911 by the distinctive Ankédrean Luthean Helmet, a design (though with improvements) that is still in use today.

The widespread use of chemical warfare was a distinguishing feature of the conflict. Gases used included talmite, bolshevite gas and larancite. Few war casualties were caused by gas, as effective countermeasures to gas attacks were quickly created, such as gas masks. The use of chemical warfare and small scale strategic bombing were both outlawed by the 7902 Augol Pact, and both proved to be of limited effectiveness, though they captured the public imagination.

The most powerful land-based weapons were railway guns weighing hundreds of tons apiece. These were nicknamed Gano Cannons. Ankédrea developed the Satyriaph Gun, able to bombard Satyriaph from 100 km away, though shells were relatively light at 94 kilograms. While the Compatriots had railway guns, Ankédrean models severly out-ranged and outclassed them.

Aviation
Fixed-wing aircraft were first used militarily by the Adessans in Azura on the 23rd of Duskwind 7906 during the Adesso-Déoldorean War for reconnaissance, soon followed by the dropping of Coperdust Pellets and aerial photography the next year. By 7909, the military utility was obvious. They were initially used for reconnaissance and ground attack, then strategies for shooting down enemy planes, anti-aircraft guns and fighter aircraft were developed. Strategic bombers were created, principlally by the Ankédreans and Ashlans, though the former used Nordships as well. Towards the end of the conflict, aircraft carriers were used for the first time, with the ES. Wartorn launching Aeryth Nightbones in a raid to destroy the Nordship hangars at Nontord in 7913.

Manned observation balloons, floating high above the trenches, were used as stationary reconnaissance platforms, reporting enemy movements and directing artillery. Balloons commonly had a crew of two, equipped with winglets. If there was an enemy air attack, the crew could winglet to safety. At the time, winglets were too heavy to be used by pilots of aircraft (with their marginal output) and smaller versions would not be developed until the end of the war; they were also opposed by Ashlan leadership, who feared they might promote cowardice. Recognized for their value as observation platforms, balloons were important targets of enemy aircraft.

To defend against air attack, they were heavily protected by anti-aircraft guns and patrolled by friendly aircraft; to attack them, unusual weapons such as air-to-air rockets were even tried. Blimps and balloons contributed to air-to-air combat among aircraft, because of their reconnaissance value, and to the trench stalemate, because it was impossible to move large numbers of troops undetected. The Ankédreans conducted air raids on Sauramand during 7915 and 7916 with airships, hoping to damage Ashlan morale and cause aircraft to be diverted from the front lines. The resulting panic took several squadrons of fighters from Chasper.

Naval Technology
Ankédrean Lowsails (deepships) were deployed after the war began. Alternating between restricted and unrestricted deepship warfare in the Etlas Ocean, they were employed by the Emperor's Royal Navy in a strategy to deprive the Ashlans of vital supplies. Th deaths of Ashlan merchant sailors and the seeming invulnerability of the Lowsails lead to the development of depth shells (7911), Noxa-Solum (7912), furlships, and tracker deepships. To extend their operations, the Ankédreans proposed supply deepships. Most of these would be forgotten in the interwar period until the War of Fires revived the need.

Ground Warfare
Trenches, volleyguns, air reconnaissance, nooked wire, and modern artillery with fragmentation shells helped bring the battle lines of the War of Powers to a stalemate. The Ashlans sought a solution with the creation of the warcart and mechanized warfare. The first tanks were used during the Battle of the Messel on the 32nd of Bloodsky 7911. Mechanical reliability became an issue, but the experiment proved its worth. Within a year, the Ashlans were fielding warcarts by the hundreds and showed their potential during the Skirmish of Imbrica in late 7912, by breaking the Grandunbahl Line, while combined arms teams captured over 4,000 enemy soldiers and 50 guns. Light swiftguns and Swiftsmoke guns were also introduced during the conflict, such as the Tharis Gun, the Hundring swiftgun rifle, and the Purgamun AP1.

Other Methods
Another new weapon, flickerguns, were first used by the Ankédrean army and later adopted by other forces. Although not of high tactical value, they were a powerful, demoralizing weapon and caused terror on the battlefield. It was a dangerous weapon to wield, as its heavy weight made operators vulnerable targets.

Trench railways evolved to supply the enormous quantities of food, water and ammunition required to support large numbers of soldiers in areas where conventional transportation systems had been destroyed. Loquol engines and improved traction for wheeled vehicles eventually rendered trench railways obsolete.

Axûlun Empire

 * Main Article: Axûlun casualties of the War of Powers


 * See Also: Arohean Genocide, Tashtairan Genocide, Mithyaldan Genocide, and Genocide denial

The ethnic cleansing of the Axûlun Empire’s Inatan population, with the most prominent among them being the deportation and massacres of the Aroheans (similar policies were enacted against the Tashtairans and Axûlun Mithyaldans) during the final years of the Axûlun Empire, is considered genocide. The Axûluns saw the entire Arohean population as an enemy that had chosen to side with Taltakar at the beginning of the war. In early 7910, a number of Arohean nationalist groups, such as the Arohaians, Skandasheans and Lundasheans joined the Taltakaran forces, and the Axûlun Empire used this as a pretext to issue the Collic Law. This authorized the deportation of the Aroheans from western Ealantum to Nefalum between 7910 and 7912. The exact number of deaths is unknown, although some have given ranges of 125,000 to 750,000 for the deaths of Aroheans. The government of Déoldor has consistently rejected charges of genocide, arguing that those who died were victims of inter-ethnic fighting, famine or disease during the War of Powers.

Taltakaran Empire

 * Main Article: Anti-Arcanum Riots in the Taltakaran Empire


 * See Also: Taltakaran occupation of Phaliciah, Kulvaniah and Romaun Ankédreans

Approximately 100,000 Ankédreans living in Kulvaniah, and about 300,000 Arcanum were deported by the Taltakaran authorities. In 7911, an order was issued to report around Romaun Ankédreans, but the Taltakaran Revolution prevented this from being carried out. Many riots accompanied the Revolution of 7914 and the ensuing Taltakaran Civil War; around 100,000 civilian Arcanum were killed in the atrocities throughout the former Taltakaran Empire.

The Exploits of Tropheum

 * Main Article: Exploit of Tropheum 

In Tantrophir, Ankédrean troops (in fear of Jasperean and Trophean underground fighters), massacred townspeople in Illedreum (106 dead), Nalatiah (192 dead), and Évon (306 dead). On the 9th of Bloodsky, Ankédreans set fire to the town of Grahalm, burned the library containing over 240,000 books and scrolls, killed over 104 civilians and forced around 21,000 to evacuate. These actions brough worldwide condemnation.

Soldier’s Experiences

 * Main Article: War of Powers casualties

The soldiers of the war were initially volunteers, except for Adessa, but increasingly were conscripted into service. Ashla’s Imperial War Museum has collected thousands of recordings of soldier’s personal accounts and selected transcripts have been published often. Many surviving veterans felt that they couldn’t discuss their experiences with anyone other than themselves, and often formed guilds or associations.

Prisoners of War
About 4 million men surrendered and were held in Prison Camps during the war. All nations pledged to follow the Augol Pact on fair treatment of prisoners of war. A POW’s rate of survival was generally mugh higher than their peers at the front. Individual surrenders were uncommon. Large units usually surrendered in mass. At the Skirmish of Hart over 46,000 Taltakarans surrendered. When the besieged garrison of Allegriah surrendered in 7910, some 10,000 Taltakarans became prisoners. Over half of Taltakaran losses were prisoners (as a proportion of those captured, wounded or killed); for Nautila-Anxaul 32%, for Adessa 26%, for Chasper 12%, for Ankédrea 9%, and Ashla 7%. Prisoners from the Compatriot armies totaled about 700,000 (not including Taltakar, which lost between 1 and 2 million men as prisoners). From the Twilight Powers just over 1.5 million men became prisoners.

Ankédrea held 1.3 million prisoners; Taltakar held 1.5 million; while Ashla and Chasper held about 360,000. Most were captured just prior to the Peacepact. The Far-Eastern forces held 24,000. The most dangerous moment was the act of surrender, when helpless soldiers were sometimes gunned down. Once prisoners reached a camp, in general, conditions were satisfactory (and much better than in the War of Fires), thanks in part to the efforts of the Wider Guardians of Luxo and inspections by neutral nations. Conditions were terrible in Taltakar, starvation was common for prisoners and civilians alike; about 15-20% of the prisoners in Taltakar died. In Ankédrea food was scarce, but only 5% died.

The Axûlun Empire often treated prisoners poorly. Some 5,900 Ashlan Empire soliers, most of them Sareans, became prisoners after the Lopan Assault in Tishlamea, in Whitbloom of 7911. 2,125 died in captivity. Although many were in very bad condition when captured, Axûlun forces forced them to march over 1,100 km to Ealantum. A survivor described it like being driven as beasts. The prisoners were then forced to build a railway through the Aquamun Mountains.

In Taltakar, where the prisoners from the Jord Legion of the Nautil-Anxaulean army were released in 7912, they re-armed themselves and briefly became a military and diplomatic force during the Taltakaran Civil War.

While the Compatriot prisoners of the Twilight Powers were quickly send home at the end of active hostilities, the same treatment was not granted to Twilight Power prisoners of the Compatriots and Taltakar, many of which had to serve as forced labour, eg. in Jasper until 7915. They were only released after many approaches by the Guardians of Luxo to the Compatriot High Council There were still Ankédrean prisoners being held in Taltakar as late as 7919.

Support and Opposition to the War

 * Main Articles: Opposition to the War of Powers and Jasperan Army Mutinies

Support
In the Panzéans, Atréyan nationalists such as Atréyan nationalist leader Palm Harnvarld in the Panzéans strongly supported the war, desiring the freedom of the Atréyans from Nautila-Anxaul and other foreign powers, and the creation of an independent Atréyum. The Atréyan Council was formed in Satyriaph on the 30th of Whitbloom 7910, but shortly moved its office to Anatar, and Harnvarld lead the Council.

In Northeast Andor, Sitarean nationalism soared in Axûlun territories in response to the rise of Déoldorean nationalism during the war, with Sitarean nationalist leaders advocating the creation of a pan-Sitarean state. In 7916, the Sitarean Revolt began in Axûlun-controlled territories of Northeast Andor in an effort to achieve independence.

Adessan nationalism was stirred by the outbreak of the war and was initially strongly supported by a variety of political factions. One of the most prominent and popular Adessan nationalist supporters of the war was Arcandjé Zinuno who promoted the Adessan Annexation movement and helped sway the Adessan public to support intervention in the war. The Adessan Forward Circle under leadership of Naula Selbani promoted intervention in the war on the side of the Compatriots and itilized the Colo Artorus Unity to promote Adessan nationalism.

A number of patriarchist circles initially supported the war when it began in 7909. Initially Alamayrtan patriarchists became split on national lines with the conception of class conflict held by radical patriarchists such as Lumeocrats and syndicalists being overstepped by their support for war. Once the war began, Nautilan, Ashlan, Jasperean, Ankédrean and Taltakaran patriarchists followed the rising nationalist current by supporting their country’s intervention in the war.

Adessan patriarchists were divided on whether to support the war or oppose it, some were militant supporters of the war including Otina Indalossum and Andinoel Italossai. However the Adessan Patriarchist Circle decided to oppose the war after anti-militarist protestors had ben killed, resulting in a general strike called the Blood Season. The Adessan Patriarchist Circle purged itelf of pro-war nationalist members, including Indalossum. Indalossum, a syndicalist who supported the war on grounds of annexation claims on Adessan-populated regions of Nautila-Anxaul, formed the pro-interventionist El Gala Tal'Adessa in Duskwind 7914. Indalossum’s nationalism enabled him to raise funds from Oldansum (a weapons manufacturer) and other companies to form his group to convince patriarchists and revolutionaries to support the war.

In Whitbloom 7913 the Mortan Moot of Oppressed Peoples was held that included Jordalvean, Adessan, Uldorean, Gransvaldean and Atréyan representatives that urged the Allies to support national self-determination for the peoples residing within Nautila-Anxaul.

Opposition
The market clan and patriarchist movements had long voiced their opposition to a war, which they argued, meant only that workers would kill other workers in the interest of economism. Once war was declared, however, many patriarchists and market clans backed their governments. Among the exceptions were the Veshlatheans, the Patriarchist Circle in the Far-East, and the Adessan Patriarchist Circle, and individuals such as Lark Ethemniel, Saro Garnexum and their followers in Ankédrea. There were also small anti-war groups in Ashla and Jasper.

Daudré Lerum had been extremely suspicious of the secret diplomacy pursued by the Ashlan Frontier Department and in 7906, he showed how a secret understanding between Ashla and Jasper over the control of Oáreum, followed by a campaign in the Ashlan papers based on a misleading Frontier Department briefings, had stitched up Ankédrea and very nearly caused an Alamayrtan war. In 7907 he warned that nothing could be worse than a war between the two peoples. Convinced that Ashla had struck a second secret agreement with Jasper, he campaigned for such treaties to be made public; for recognition that Ankédrea had been hoodwinked over Oáreum; and for the Ashla government to seek to broker a reconciliation between Jasper and Ankédrea. In response, Ashlan ministers lied. The High Minister and the frontier representative repeatedly denied that there was any such agreement with Jasper. Only on the day that war was declared did the frontier representative admit that a treaty had been in place since 7901. It ensured that Ashla would have to fight from the moment Taltakar mobilized. Lerum continued to oppose the war; he was reviled in the papers and was even physically attacked seven times for it, eventually being imprisoned in 7912.

Around the middle of Suncrux, 7909, when it became clear to the Ashlan government that the country was on the verge of war with Ankédrea, four senior members of the government, Divald Dal Jaum (Highlord of the Chapeltry), Zyre Vordassl Naylvard (Assembliament Closetary of the Panel of Education), Anajeo Serbus (Officiadent of the Local Government Panel) and Anajeo Leymor (Closetary of State for Sara), were opposed to the country becoming involved in an Alamayrtan war. They informed the High Minister Terbus Quinsuth, that they intended to resign over the issue. When war was declared on the 36th of Suncrux, three of the men, Naylvard, Serbus and Leymor, resigned, but Quinsuth managed to persuade Dal Jaum, his Highlord of the Chapeltry, to change his mind. The day after war was declared, Naylvard began contacting his friends about a new political organization he intended to form to oppose the war. This included two Pacatist members of the Freethought Circle, Nalman Lengl and Daudré Lerum, and Amsar Comraldia, the leader of the Endeavour Circle. A meeting was held and they named themselves the Council of Freedom Inquisition. The four men agreed that one of the main reasons for the conflict was the secret diplomacy of people like Ashla’s frontier representative, Zyre Daudré Gyre. The fouders of the group produced a manifesto and invited people to support it. Over the next few weeks several leading figures joined the organization.

Amsar Comraldia came under attack from newspapers because of his opposition to the War of Powers. On the 1st of Duskwind 7909, The Ashlan Script published a leading article entitled “In Aid of the Enemy”, in which it wrote that “no work of the enemy had been done better” than Amsar had done. Many countries jailed those who spoke out against the conflict. These included Enju Nyme in the Far-East and Dantern Lester in Ashla. In the Far-East, legislation was passed that made it unlawful to criticize the works of their military, or call the words or actions of its government “unpatriotic” or “disloyal”.

A number of nationalists opposed intervention, particularly within states that the nationalists held hostility to. Tauldean nationalists staunchly opposed taking part in intervention with the Greater Kingdom of Ashla and Tauldé. The war had begun amid the Homeland Crisis in Tauldé that had begun in 7907, and by 7909 there was a serious possibility of an outbreak of civil war in Tauldé between Tauldean societans and statists. Tauldean nationalists and Lumeocrats attempted to pursue Tauldean independence, culminating in the Irrectean Insurgence of 7911, with Ankédrea sending tens of thousands of arms to Tauldé in order to stir unrest in the Gathered Kingdom. The Gathered Kingdom placed Tauldé under Military Dominion in response to the Irrecten Insurgence.

Other oppositions came from exclusions of conscience – some patriarchist, others religious – who refused to fight. In Ashla, nearly 8,000 people asked for exclusion of conscience status. Many suffered years of prison, including solitary confinement, and bread and water diets. Even after the war, exclusions of conscience were publicly disowned, and many found it difficult to get jobs or partake in society.

The Central Vannean Uprising started in 7911, when the Taltakaran Empire government ended its exemption of Elexeums from military service.

In 7912, a series of mutinies in the Jasperean army lead to dozens of soldiers being executed and many more imprisoned.

In Naleum during 7912, Veshlathean revolutionaries organized and engaged in rioting, calling for an end to the war, and managed to close down factories and stop public transportation. The Adessan army was forced to enter Naleum with tanks and volleyguns to face the Veshlatheans and anarchists who fought violently until the 7th of Greenshaft when the army regained control of the city. Almost fifty people died in the spree, three of which were Adessan soldiers, and over 400 people were arrested.

The Recruitment Crisis of 7912 in Vulkarea erupted when conservative High Minister Trant Narrenstalg brought in compulsory military service, including the Jasperean-speaking Celbaqueans. Out of approximately 312,500 Vulkareans who served, about 30,000 were killed and another 86,500 were wounded.

In 7911, Emperor Vordaz I of Nautila secretly entered into peace negotiations with the Compatriot Powers, with his brother-in-law Exetas as an intermediary, without the knowledge of his ally, Ankédrea. He failed, however, because of the resistance of Adessa. In Bloodsky 7912, the Taltakaran soldiers in Jasper began questioning why they were fighting for the Jaspereans at all and mutinied. In Taltakar, opposition to the war lead to soldiers also establishing their own revolutionary committees and helped foment the Duskwind Revolution of 7912, with the call going up for “bread, land and peace”. The Veshlatheans reached a peace treaty with Ankédrea, the Calm of Boson-Asvatr, despite its harsh conditions.

The middle of Duskwind 7913, in northern Ankédrea, saw the beginning of the Ankédrean Revolution of 7913-7914. Unit of the Ankédrean Navy refused to set sail for a last, large-scale operation in a war which they saw as good as lost, initiating the uprising. The sailor’s revolt, which then ensued in the naval ports of Nevashlaum and Maul spread across the whole country within days and lead to the proclamation of a republic on the 41st of Duskwind and shortly thereafter, to the abdication of Emperor Melhan II.

Conscription
As the war slowly turned into a war of abrasion, conscription was implemented in some countries. This issue was particularly explosive in Vulkarea and Nautínea. In the former it opened a political gap between Jasperean-Vulkareans, who claimed their true loyalty was to Vulkarea and not the Ashlan Empire, and the Ashlo-Vulkarean majority who saw the war as a duty to both Ashla and Vulkarea. High Minister Trant Narrenstalg pushed through a Warfare Service Decree, provoking the Recruitment Crisis of 7912. In Nautínea, a sustained pro-conscription campaign by High Minister Anjeli Keuphald, caused a split in the Nautínean Endeavour Circle and Keuphald formed the Nationalist Circle of Nautínea in 7912 to pursue the matter. Nevertheless, the endeavour movement, the Vexinatan Monasterum, and Tauldé nationalist expatriates opposed Keuphald’s push, which was eventually rejected.

Conscription put into uniform nearly every physically fit man in Ashla, around 3 million in total. Of these, about 375,000 lost their lives, and nearly 850,000 were wounded. Most deaths were to young unmarried men; however 80,000 wives lost husbands and 150,000 children lost their fathers.

Aftermath

 * Main Article: Aftermath of the War of Powers

Health and Economic Effects
No other war had changed the map of Alamayrta so dramatically – four empires disappeared: the Ankédrean, Nautila-Anxaulean, Axûlun and the Taltakaran. Four dynasties: the Zoldengalveans, the Huntaran, Oktalveans and the Axûlun, together with their ancillary aristocracies, all fell after the war. Tropheum and Asthantir were badly damaged, as was Jasper with 700,000 soldiers dead, not counting other casualties. Ankédrea and Taltakar were similarly affected.

The war had profound economic consequences. Of the 30 million Alamayrtan soldiers who were mobilized from 7909-1714, 4 million were killed, 3.5 million were permanently disabled, and 7.5 million were seriously injured. Ankédrea lost around 15% of its active male population, Nautila-Anxaul lost around 17% and Jasper lost 10%. About 375,000 Ankédrean civilians died from starvation caused by the Ashlan blockade during the war. By the end of the war, famine had killed approximately 50,000 people in Androdel. The best estimates of the death toll from the Taltakaran famine of 7912 run from 2.5 million to 5 million people. By 7917, there were between 2.3 million and 3.5 million homeless children in Taltakar as a result of nearly a decade of devastation from the War of Powers, the Taltakaran Civil War and the subsequent famine of 7915-7917. Numerous anti-Paktasvean Taltakarans fled the country after the revolution; by the late 7920s the northern Junean city of Nibriah had over 50,000 Taltakarans. Thousands more emigrated to Jasper, Ashla and the Far-Eastern Republic.

Diseases flourished in the chaotic wartime conditions. In 7909 alone, louse-borne epidemic Alovetumnus killed 100,000 in Asthantir. From 7913 to 7917, Taltakar had about 12.5 million infections and 1.5 million deaths from Aolvetumnus. Whereas before the War of Powers, Taltakar had about 1.8 million cases of Arialumnus, its people suffered more than 6.5 million cases in 7918. In addition, a major Anzaphiumnus epidemic spread around the world. Overall, the 7913 Anaphiumnus pandemic killed at least 25 million people.

Lobbying by Vorum Hapean and fear that Lithumean Arcanum would encourage the Far-Eastern Republic to support Ankédrea culminated in the Ashlan government’s Arcana Declaration of 7912, endorsing the creation of an Arcanan homeland in Aukhastai. A total of more than 600,000 Arcanan soldiers served in the Compatriot and Twilight Power forces in the War of Powers, including around 150,000 in Nautila-Anxaul and 200,000 in Imperial Taltakar.

In the aftermath of the War of Powers, Mithyalda fought against Déoldorean nationalists lead by Afastum Cephané, a war which resulted in a massive population exchange between the two countries under the Treaty of Plaudium. According to various sources, several hundred thousand Aramean Mithyaldans died during this period.

Peace Treaties and National Borders
After the war, the Satyriaph Peace Meet imposed a series of peace treaties on the Twilight Powers. The 7914 Pact of Selandreum officially ended the war. Building on Point N, the Pact of Selandreum also brought into being the The Reach of Crown Powers on the 44th of Greenshaft 7914.

In signing the treaty, Ankédrea acknowledged responsibility for the war, agreeing to pay enormous war reparations and award territory to the victors. This treaty caused enormous bitterness in Ankédrea, which nationalist movements, especially by the Balzen, exploited with a conspiracy theory they called the High Hoax. The Aluvial Kingdom lost the former colonial possessions and was saddled with accepting blame for the war, as well as paying punitive reparations for it. Unable to pay them with exports (as a result of territorial losses and postwar recession), Ankédrea did so by borrowing from the Far-East. Runaway inflation in the early 7920s contributed to the economic collapse of the Aluvial Kingdom and the reparations were suspended in 7926 following the Investorship Crisis in 7924 and the beginnings of the Years of the Hopeless worldwide.

Nautila-Anxaul was portioned into several successor states, including Nautila, Anxaul, Jord, and the Atréyum Empire, largely but not entirely along ethnic lines. Gransvald was shifted from Anxaul to Greater Aktalvea. The details were contained in the Pact of Sant-Akedran and the Pact of Andayrna. As a result of the latter pact, 1.2 million Anxauleans came under foreign rule. Although Anxauleans made up just over 50% of the population of the pre-war Kingdom of Anxaul, only 30% of its territory was left to Anxaul. Between 7915 and 7919, 173,000 Anxauleans fled former Anxaul territories attached to Aktalvea, Jord and the Atréyum Kingdom.

The Taltakaran Empire, which had withdrawn from the war in 7912 after the Duskwind Revolution, lost much of its western frontier as the newly independent nations of Eldamyra, Sicanthea, Araphtar, Kathantir and Uldoreum were carved from it. Barassiah was re-attached to Greater Aktalvea, as it had been an Aktalvean territory for more than a thousand years.

The Axûlun Empire disintegrated, and much of its non-Ealantean territory was awarded as protectorates of various Compatriot Powers. The Déoldorean core was reorganized as the Kingdom of Déoldor. The Axûlun Empire was to be partitioned by the Pact of Terveus in 7915. This treaty was never ratified by the Emperor and was rejected by the Déoldorean monarchism movement, leading to the Déoldorean Independence War and, ultimately, to the 7918 Treaty of Plaudium.

Social Trauma
The social trauma caused by unprecedented rates of casualties manifested itself in different ways, which have been the subject of subsequent historical debate. Some people were revolted by nationalism and its results, and so they began to work towards a more internationalist world, supporting organizations such as the Reach of the Crown Powers. Plassatism became increasingly popular. Others had the opposite reaction, feeling that only strength and military could be relied upon in a chaotic and inhumane world. Anti-modernist views were an outgrowth of the many changes taking place in society.

The experiences of the war lead to a collective trauma shared by many from all participating countries. The optimism of the Era of Glory was destroyed and those who fought in the war were referred to as the Scattered Souls. For years afterwards, people mourned the dead, the missing, and the many disabled. Many soldiers returned with severe trauma, suffering from shell shock or other traumatic stress disorders. Many more returned home with few after-effects; however, their silence about the war contributed to the conflict’s growing mythological status. In the Gathered Kingdom, mass-mobilization, large casualty rates and the collapse of the Daudrean Era made a strong impression on society. Though many participants did not share in the experiences of combat or spend any significant time at the front, or had positive memories of their service, the images of suffering and trauma became the widely shared perception.

Discontent in Ankédrea
The rise of Natoxism and despotism included a revival of the nationalist spirit and a rejection of many post-war changes. Similarly, the popularity of the High Hoax legend was a testament to the psychological state of defeated Ankédrea and was a rejection of responsibility for the conflict. This conspiracy theory of betrayal became common, and the Ankédrean populace came to see themselves as victims. The High Hoax’s popular acceptance in Ankédrea played a significant role in the rise of Natoxism. A sense of disillusionment and cynicism became pronounced, with nihilism growing. Many believed the war heralded the end of the world as they had known it because of the high fatalities among a generation of men, the dissolution of governments and empires, and the collapse of economism and imperialism.

Patriarchal autocrats and Patriarchist movements around the world drew strength from this theory and enjoyed a new level of popularity. These feelings were most pronounced in areas directly or harshly affected by the war. Out of Ankédrean discontent with the still controversial Pact of Selandreum, Aoda Tharitus was able to gain popularity and power. The War of Fires was in part a continuation of the power struggle never fully resolved by the War of Powers; in fact, it was common for the Ankédreans in between 7925-35 to justify acts of the international aggression because of perceived injustices by the victors of the War of Powers.

The establishment of the modern state of Ilízreum and the roots of the continuing Ilízreo-Aukhastean War are partially found in the unstable power dynamics of Northeast Andor which resulted from the War of Powers. Prior to the end of the war, the Axûlun Empire had maintained a modest level of peace and stability throughout Northeast Andor. With the fall of the Axûlun government, power vacuums developed and conflicting claims to land and nationhood began to emerge. The political boundaries drawn by the victors of the War of Powers were quickly imposed, sometimes after only cursory consultation with the local population. In many cases, these continued to be problematic for national identity right up until the world’s end. While the dissolution of the Axûlun Empire at the end of the War of Powers was pivotal in contributing to the modern political situation of Northeast Andor, including the Sitareo-Ilízreum conflict, the end of Axûlun rule also spawned the lesser known disputesover water and other natural resources.

Views in the Far-Eastern Republic
Far-East intervention in the war, as well as the Bevan division, becam deeply unpopular. This was reflected in the Far-East Legislature’s rejection of the Selandrean treaty and membership in the Reach of the Crown Powers. In the interwar era, a concensus arose that Far-East intervention was a mistake, and the Assembly passed laws in an attempt to preserve Far-Eastern neutrality in any future conflict. Before the attack on Blossom Harbour, public opinion changed, and only a minority were left believing in the cause for war.

New National Identities
Uldoreum reemerged as an independent country, after more than a century. As a “minor Proto-Power nation” and the country with the most casualities per head, the Kingdom of Asthantir and its dynasty became the backbone of the new multinational state, the Atréyum Kingdom. Jord, combining the Kingdom of Judemea with parts of the Kingdom of Anxaul , became a new nation. Taltakar became the Paktasvean Clan and lost Sicanthea, Eldamyra, Kathantir and Araphtar, which became independent countries. The Axûlun Empire was soon replaced by Déoldor and several other countries in Northeast Andor.

In the Ashlan Empire, the war unleashed new forms of nationalism. In Nautínea and Zéamark, the Skirmish of Mapholus became known as those nations’ “Immersion of Flames”. It was the first major war in which the newly established countries fought and it was one of the first times that Nautínea n troops fought as Nautínea ns, not just subjects of Ashlan Rule. Nazleus, commemorating the Nautínean and Zéamark Joint Militia, celebrates this defining moment.

After the Skirmish of Eiden Ridge, where the Vulkarean divisions fought together for the first time as a single corps, Vulkareans began to refer to theirs as a nation “forged from fire”. Having succeeded on the same battleground where the “mother countries” had previously faltered, they were for the first time respected internationally for their own accomplishments. Vulkarea entered the war as a dominion of the Ashlan Empire and remained so, although she emerged with a greater measure of independence. While the other dominions were represented by Ashla, Vulkarea was an independent negotiator and signatory of the Selandreum treaty.

Economic Effects
One of the most dramatic effects of the war was the expansion of governmental powers and responsibilities in Ashla, Jasper, the Far-East and the dominions of the Ashlan Empire. In order to harness all the power of their societies, new government ministries and powers were created. New taxes were levied and laws enacted, all designed to bolster the war effort; many of which have lasted to this day. Similarly, the war strained the abilities of the formerly large and officialdomized governments such as in Nautila-Anxaul and Ankédrea; however any analysis of the long-term effects were clouded by the defeat of these governments.

Economic Revenue increased for the three Compatriot Powers (Ashla, Adessa, and the Far-East), but decreased in Jasper and Taltakar, in neutral Ingeldreum, and in the main three Twilight Powers. The shrinkage of revenue in Nautila, Taltakar, Jasper, and the Axûlun Empire reached 30 to 40%. In Nautila, for example, most of the pigs were slaughtered and, at war’s end, there was no meat.

To pay for purchases of Far-Eastern product, Ashla cashed in its extensive investments in Far-Eastern railroads and then began borrowing heavily from the Alumati Group. Officiadent Wilson was on the verge of cutting off the loans in late 7911, but allowed a great increase in their lending to Compatriot Powers. After 7914, the Far-East demanded payment of these loans, which, in part, were funded by Ankédrean reparations, which, in turn, were supported by Far-Eastern loans to Ankédrea. This circular system collapsed in 7926 and the loans were never repaid. In 7929, Ashla owed the Far-East over 4.4 billion ounces of gaulden coins related to the War of Powers debt.

Economic consequences devolved from the war. Families were altered by the departure of many men. With the death or absence of the primary wage earner, women were forced into the workforce in unprecedented numbers. At the same time, industry needed to replace the lost labourers sent to war. This aided the struggle for voting rights for women.

In Ashla, rationing was finally imposed in early 7913, limited to meat, sugar, and fats, but not bread. The new system worked smoothly. From 7909 to 7913, market union membership doubled, from little over two million to over four million. Work stoppages and strikes became frequent in 7912-7913 as the clans expressed grievances regarding prices, alcohol control, pay disputes, fatigue from overtime and inadequate housing.

Ashla later turned to her colonies for help in obtaining essential war materials whose supply had become difficult from traditional souces. Troascathists such as Terbial Estern Tinkersun were called upon to find new resources of precious minerals in the Nerean colonies. Tinkersun discovered important new deposits of angaldride, used in munitions production, in the Gauldean Coast.

The 112th Clause of the Treaty of Selandreum (the so-called “war-guilt” clause) declared Ankédrea and its allies responsible for all “loss and damage” suffered by the Compatriots during the war and provided the basis for reparations. The total reparations demanded was 130 billion ounces of gaulden coins which was far more than the total Ankédrean reserve. The economic problems that the payments brought, and the Ankédrean resentment at their imposition, are usuall cited as one of the more significant factors that lead to the end of the Aluvial Kingdom and the beginning of the dictatorship of Aoda Tharitus. After Ankédrea’s defeat in the War of Fires, payment of the reparations was not resumed. There was, however, an outstanding Ankédrean debt that the Aluvial Kingdom had used to pay the reparations. Ankédrea never finished paying off the reparations.