The Great War

Statistics
{| border="5" align="center" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1" style="width:500px;" class="article-table" ! scope="col"|Combatants (Entente) ! scope="col"|Combatants (Minsk Pact)
 * GDI
 * Solar Force
 * Southern Imperium
 * Shadow Foundation
 * Confederate Hand
 * Celestial Horizon
 * Calibo Sources
 * GAD
 * Ebonheart League (Only fought AGI)
 * Corporate Sector Authority (Financially backed Southern Imperium and GAD)
 * Elite Masked Empire
 * GGR
 * AGI
 * AFM (Merged with Peterland to form UFAR)
 * First Reich of Peterland
 * AGI
 * AFM (Merged with Peterland to form UFAR)
 * First Reich of Peterland

Minsk Pact Losses:

 * Estimated around 275-280k soldiers, sailors, and crewmen.
 * Unaccounted number of civilians.
 * Estimated 455-460k soldiers, sailors, and crewmen.
 * 1 million Civilians
 * Estimated 455-460k soldiers, sailors, and crewmen.
 * 1 million Civilians
 * 1 million Civilians

Result:

 * Entente Victory, signing of the Treaty of Tyrants
 * Weakening of the GGR's presence on the global stage
 * Partitioning of AFM's African territories
 * Beginning of the Shadow Foundations second economic depression
 * Expansion of the Southern Imperium's African Colonies
 * Expansion of the Corporate Sector Authority's influence within global trade and the Southern Atlantic
 * Allied occupation of GGR, AGI and AFM territories
 * Formation of the Freedom Pact

Major Battles:

 * Battle of Doula
 * First Battle of Nigeria
 * Battle of Baghdad
 * Battle of Iceland
 * Battle of Pernik
 * Battle of Muscat
 * The Bulgarian Skirmishes
 * Battle of the Falklands
 * Battle of Steno Kafirea
 * Second Battle of Nigeria
 * }

Synopsis
World War 3, also known as the Great War (and also known as the Great Disappointment), was a global conflict that lasted from October 16th-October 21st 2078. The Great War is generally believed to have begun on October 16th, 2078 shortly after the Greater Gamer Reich declared open war on Solar Force, with the GGR demanding that they be given India and Western China. This conflict would rapidly escalate in scale, with many factions scrambling to choose a side, while other, more smaller factions chose to remain neutral, as they either didn’t have the economic or military power to push any significant move within the war. In the early days of the war, the GGR held the strategic advantage, the signing of the Minsk Pact brought the First Reich of Peterland, as well as the Anti-Furry Militia and the Anti-Gatcha Initiative into the war, securing large areas of Europe, Russia, the Middle East and regions of Eastern and Western Africa. Involving a majority of the major global powers, two opposing alliances were formed. The Entente and the Minsk Pact. In a state of total war, involving over a total of several million soldiers from 15 factions, both sides threw their economic, industrial, and strategic abilities to the absolute limit, unfortunately blurring the line between soldier and civilian. As of current events, the Great War has been the bloodiest conflict in the Lore’s history, marked with a total of casualties. Millions of people died to bombings, scorched earth campaigns, genocide, and starvation. Aircraft and naval power proved to be a major factor in the war, including the strategic and merciless bombing of civilian population centers as well as areas of economic and industrial significance.

However, the Greater Gamer Reich would overestimate its abilities, as well as their allies, as the Gamer Defense Initiative would declare war on the GGR, along with the GAD in defense of Solar Force. Shortly after the initial declaration of war, several strategic bombing campaigns would be launched by both the Minsk Pact as well as the Entente within Northern Europe and Western India and Pakistan. The first major battles fought between the Entente and the Minsk Pact ended up as Entente victories, often decimating GGR forces by 80-95%.

The end of the war would shape the balance of power globally. Nations such as the Southern Imperium, the Confederate Hand, and the Shadow Foundation, would rise to prominence as world powers, while the GGR and AGI would lessen in international influence, as internal struggles and political infighting stifled expansion, keeping both nations within the European Mainland. Most nations of the Minsk Pact had their major industrial sites destroyed or damaged, leaving them to a suffering and crippled economy. With Europe’s influence waning, continents such as South America, Africa and Asia would rise to become the new centers of global politics.

Middle Eastern Front
Most of the most and intense fighting took place within the Middle East, here Solar Force, GAD, and GDI forces clashed against GGR troops. Some of the most brutal battles fought within the Middle East being the Battle of Baghdad, Battle of Muscat, the Punjab Invasion, and the Battle of Ahvaz. The GGR’s main plan within the Middle East was to defend its territory from the Entente forces, before lashing out in counterattack. Stiff resistance from both sides would lead these offensives and battles to have tremendous casualties on both sides. The GGR would win several major battles on this front, however, took casualties that stacked into the hundreds of thousands.

Areas like Iran, Pakistan, and Iraq saw a majority of the fighting within this front, targeted due to the regions being strategic economic and population centers. The GDI pushed into Iraq for the strategic purpose of taking the Iraqi oil fields, crippling the GGR’s war effort within the region. However, this strategic victory would not be as damaging to local GGR forces as initially anticipated. The GGR managed to contain the GDI in several defensive battles, the most infamous being the Battle of Ahvaz in Southern Iraq. Details about this battle are sparse, as the battle had an intense casualty rate of 98% of all combatants on the field.

European/Northern Campaign
Europe would witness some early battles and skirmishes in the beginning in the war, starting with the bombardments of Britain and Germany by GDI and TSF air forces. No true battle would touch the European mainland until the naval skirmishes and the landing of troops within Denmark from GDI held Scandinavia. Beginning on October 17th, 2078, the Battle for Denmark would be one of the longest lasting battles within the war, as a fierce stalemate was kept as GGR garrisons held their ground against a ruthless GDI onslaught. The AGI would also be on the defensive, as the Ebonheart Pact began to attack naval convoys near Sicily and Sardinia, weaking AGI naval resolve, and leaving them to be isolated within the central Mediterranean. The AGI would find success within the Balkans however, taking a pyrrhic victory against the Confederate Hand at the Battle of Pernik. This battle spearheaded the AGI’s advance into Confederate held Bulgaria. AGI forces however, would meet stiff and considerable resistance from both partisans within AGI occupied Bulgaria and against the Confederate military, which was considered backwater by most major powers. Bulgaria would also be subject to GGR invasion from the north, however the claims made by GGR about their campaigns within Bulgaria are heavily disputed.

Greece would also see sporadic fighting, as Shadow Foundation ships would bombard landing strips, naval ports, and convoys within GGR territories within Greece and the Aegean Sea. Landings would be attempted within Crete by Shadow Foundation marines on October 18th, 2078. However, these campaigns would be a mixed bag for both sides. The GGR managed to push out Shadow Foundation forces out, but at a great cost of human life. With the Shadow Foundation going bankrupt, they were forced to withdraw from Europe, instead focusing on rebuilding their economy and going back to defend Egypt from AGI and GGR forces.

Southern Europe would not be the only area of Europe subjected to war. Scandinavia and Britain were two regions of high contest between Entente and GGR forces. The GDI’s possession of Norway and Sweden made Denmark a prime target for invasion and left the shores of Poland susceptible to bombardment and naval raids. Despite these intense odds, the GGR defensive forces managed to establish a defensive line and force a stalemate on the GDI invaders, simply referred to as the Danish Wall. The GGR during the war experienced an unnaturally high morale rate despite rampant losses on multiple fronts. This was due to intensive propaganda and public knowledge of GDI war crimes within Britain and Denmark. The most infamous massacre on GGR civilians by GDI forces was conducted in Copenhagen, Denmark. In what would be known as the "Culling of Copenhagen" GDI forces gunned down an estimated 25,000 civilians that took to the streets to protest the unlawful actions done by garrisoned GDI forces within the city.

Britain would not be as lucky, bombers from the GDI, Celestial Horizon, and even Calibo would bombard cities across the island, while GDI and Celestial Horizon forces launched raids into northern England and Wales. GGR forces managed to hold back these repetitive raids at a great cost, and the morale of troops would be considerably low. No real major battle would take place within the Northern Campaigns until the First and Second Battle of Iceland. The first battle, a naval skirmish between Solar Force and GGR naval battlegroups that happened on October 17th, 2078, forced the GGR blockade to collapse in a strategic victory for the Solar Force’s naval forces within the Northern Atlantic, and allowing for Entente forces to enter Northern Europe to relieve the GDI Scandinavian forces.

African Campaign:
Africa initially saw some of the first major battles in the war, with the Shadow Foundation’s army clashing against GGR colonial forces within Ethiopia and Uganda. One of the GGR’s allies; the AFM, was also established within the region of Cameroon and Nigeria. When the Southern Imperium joined the war on October 17th, 2078, the Imperium’s first move was to take out the AFM within Africa, knowing it would severely limit the Minsk Pact’s influence within Africa. in a pyrrhic victory against the AFM in the Battle of Douala, The Southern Imperium would force the AFM to fall back out of Cameroon, to better secure their holdings within Nigeria, alongside the GGR colony within the region. After this disastrous battle, the AFM, who had recently merged with the First Reich of Peterland to form the UFAR, would surrender to the Entente with the Treaty of in October 2078. The AFM’s concessions would be Cameroon, Sao and Principe and areas of northern Congo to the Southern Imperium’s colony within Africa. The treaty would also see the UFAR leaving the war, as political instability and poor economic management forced both AFM and Peterland to withdraw from the Minsk Pact to recover financially. Sporadic skirmishes would continue in Egypt and in Northern Africa until the Second Battle of Nigeria on October 21st, 2078, where the GGR African Colonial Defense Force would crush a Confederate Hand invasion, taking heavy casualties. No major counteroffensive was launched in Africa due to the Treaty of the Tyrants.

Atlantic Campaign:
One of the shortest campaigns of the conflict, this was one of the Southern Imperium’s most strategically important campaigns, its main objective being the capture and annexation of the Falkland Islands, which the GGR had taken in early August of 2078, much to the despise of the Imperium. In a joint move by the Imperium, GAD and GDI, a full-scale invasion on October 20th, 2078. However, stiff resistance from the GGR garrison would lead to a draw. The GGR would attempt to sabotage the invasion, by attempting to poison the island, however this scheme would be stopped by Imperium and GDI operatives.

Aftermath:
After the signing of the Treaty of Tyrants on October 22nd, 2078, the GGR’s influence on the global stage was greatly reduced. Lands in Russia, the Middle East, Asia, and Europe were given to the victors. The GGR also faced rampant demilitarization as well as economic sanctions, damaging the already fragile GGR economy, which had suffered intense infrastructural damage within Germany and Britain.

The AGI was given a more merciful fate, Italy was given to the reborn Anjew Empire, leaving to the AGI to have Yugoslavia, Albania, and Kosovo. However, the AGI also was faced with war reparations for supporting the GGR in the conflict, as well as demilitarization and a lessening of influence of the AGI within the Mediterranean.

The Ebonheart Pact, essentially the reborn Anjew Empire, annexed Italy, and Southern France, with Duce Anjew returning from hiding within Tunisia. The Anjew Empire was able to establish naval dominance relatively quickly during the war through the use of strategic bombardment using mid-range missiles to attack naval caravans, port cities and shipyards. Unlike other nations, the Ebonheart Pact justified its conflict on the grounds of ethnicity. Anjew made claims that the GGR had oppressed Anjew minority groups within Iberia and France, allowing him to justify his attacks in Spain and France. This would lessen the GGR and AGI’s influence within Southern Europe and the Mediterranean.

Most of the nations within the Entente, with the exception of the GDI and the Ebonheart Pact, were given very poor concession despite their major roles within the conflict. The Treaty of the Tyrants, despite ending the war, was a simple draft, not fully seen by the other major powers within the Entente, and was rushed by the GDI and Ebonheart Pact on the behalf of the GGR High Command, who wanted an end to the war as soon as possible. This rushed treaty left out a lot of claims that the GAD, and Solar Force had made on GGR territory. This left a sour taste in the mouths of many faction leaders that joined the Entente, feeling as if they were given the "Italian Deal "

Shortly after the end of the war, Solar Force, GAD and the Southern Imperium joined to form the Freedom Pact, as a way to keep democracy strong and to prevent another world war, due to the rapid and changing climate of world politics shortly after the Great War’s end, and wanting to secure their own national sovreignty.

GGR civilians would see heavy resentment toward GDI and it's allies due to the war crimes committed by the entente, seeing them as inhumane savages. Citizens coming from these factions would see heavy discrimination by both GGR authority and citizens. GGR citizens would begin to bare arms and prepare if another major war would ever reach their front doors again.