Imperialist War

The Imperialist War in 31 WR launched the Age of Imperialism in earnest. It marked the rise of the Great Powers, especially the Esper Union and the Fascist Pact which would eventually eclipse the Gate Three. It also led to an enduring legacy of non-Grand Army intervention in affairs between member states.

Events in Esper

Flush from his unification in the Esper Wars, Hannibal de’Zama sought to unite the whole dimension under his rule. Doma and Figaro, however, stood in his way; led by Cyan Garamonde and Edgar Figaro, respectively, the two kingdoms of Esper decided to unite against Fascist domination. The death of Sabin Figaro at the hands of Esperian troops served as the spark.

This was the first time that a war would be waged between different GACA member states, and the House of Lords convened to discuss what should be done. Both sides accused the other of being the aggressor. Cyan and Edgar were founding signatories of the Grand Army Charter and their influence bore some weight. Cleverly, rather than argue that the GA intervene on his behalf, Hannibal simply argued that the GA should not be allowed to intervene at all; an argument that won him an unusual ally in Travin Rumanski. After witnessing the destruction of the KMT War, the nations of the alliance were horrified at the thought that a mere House of Lords vote might be used to unleash complete destruction on them. The fact that Edgar was by now clearly insane made it difficult for him to rally support. By the time Rhodes Palmerston spoke in favor of the policy of nonintervention, the die was cast.

This was a very controversial issue for the Gate Three, as Medina and Atreus chose to support Confederation partner Hannibal and Guardia stood with its fellow monarchies, ultimately deploying Pheonix battleships for the first time against Esperian forces. This internal tension presaged the breakup of the Gate Three a few months later.

Doman forces launched a counterattack into the Veldt. Assisted by Kuat Consortium MAD Cats, they were able to hold off the Esperian forces and make momentary inroads. Figaro castle’s ability to submerge provided brief protection, as well. However, such tactics were merely delaying tricks; against the Sky Riders powerful fleet of airships, and the vast and highly militant Esper Union, the defeat of the kingdoms was inevitable. The Esper Union now controlled almost the whole Esper Dimension, and began to spread its philosophy of Fascism to the Crystal Dimension and elsewhere.

Events in Dragon

The Scandian League took advantage of the web’s attention being focused on Esper to correct one of its major strategic problems: the fact that its territories were on either side of the Big Donut and not connected by land. Through the use of local communist movements, food crises were engineered in Gant and Winlan. In Gant the SLCM met with no resistance as it rolled through; the government was easily toppled. Winlan, however, had an army of GA veterans, and the Scandian League knew they would resist an incursion even after Kaiten and Nina were forced to flee the country for their lives. Rhodes Palmerston and the Tasnica Republic, however, beat Scande to the punch and landed in Orlean with transports full of food—and marines. After a brief, bloody resistance Winlan was formally annexed by Tasnica.

Impact of the War

• Big Winner: The Esper Union
• Other winners: Tasnica, Scande
• Losers: Gate Three, Figaro, Doma, small countries everywhere that would soon be annexed or controlled by one of the emerging Great Powers
• Big Loser: Political salience of the Grand Army. Rudra Tairen had called for a weaker GA; that the members states’ desire to make war on each other would accomplish her goal is a tremendous irony. The GA’s influence in Web politics declined, reaching its nadir in the Leviathan War, although it would be somewhat restored through the policies of the New Peace.