Meissner-Antifan War
| Meissner Antifan War (part of Black March) | |
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| Date: 7/8 March 2009 - 23 March 2009 Treaty of the Grand Unified Micronational signed March 23, 2009 | |
| Place: Cyber Space | |
| Outcome: Peaceful resolution - Scientopian apology, New European apology, New Europe "Freedom of Religion Act", New Europe Army expansion, Scientopian reporting on its military activities until May 23, stabilising of New European politics, weakning of CPUSMR Conservative faction, bolstering of GUM reputation and credentials. | |
| Combatants | |
 Empire of New Europe
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 Scientopia
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| Casualties | |
| - | - |
The Meissner-Antifan War, known alternatively as the New Euro-Scientopian War, was armed conflict involving four micronational belligerents and several other non-combatant states. The conflict began on March 7 at 23:46 UTC/UTC (March 8 by New European conventions) when the Empire of New Europe rejected an ultimatum issued by the nation of Scientopia one hour and twenty-five minutes earlier. Since it's beginnings, the New Euro-Scientopian War was an extremely controversial issue that sparked a diplomatic crisis between many nations, with many active MicroWiki micronations having vested interests in the outcome of the conflict. On March 15, both parties in the conflict agreed to declare an unconditional ceasefire with a minimum duration of seven days, pending mediated peace talks with the involvement of the Grand Unified Micronational. Although there were difficulties, a peace deal was reached on March 23, 2009. The New Euro-Scientopian War has the distinction of being the first armed conflict in which the Grand Unified Micronational has exercised it's powers of mediation and peacekeeping to successfully reach a satisfactory peace agreement.
Background
In February 2009, the Empire of New Europe was confronted by the Grand Unified Micronational - in which it had recently been granted membership - over allegations of support for extreme racial policies. These claims were brought before the nation of Scientopia by Maria Carlisle, former leader of the main opposition party of the Democratic People's Republic of Erusia prior to its move to become a one-party state. Carlisle had succeeded in acquiring a record of a meeting of the New European Parliament during which racist terminology was used and militant political policies were implied. Scientopia subsequently worked with Carlisle to expose this record to more than thirty micronational states, calling for widespread diplomatic pressure to be placed on the Empire. Allegations were also made of State support for National Socialism and Fascism.
Members of the Grand Unified Micronational elected to commission the Special Tribunal to Investigate Allegations of New European Racism, with the Empire of New Europe being invited to stand and present evidence for their defence. The Union of Socialist Micronational Republics presided over the trial with the Republic of Petorio, Democratic Duchy of Francisville, Scientopia and the Ohio Empire attending as Jurors. During the trial it was revealed by the Premier of the USMR, acting on intelligence acquired by the State Security Agency of that nation, that Scientopia had worked in conjunction with Carlisle to expose the records. Scientopia was suspended pending trial for 28 days. At the end of the trial, the USMR found New Europe guilty of inappropriate conduct but cleared them of charges of advocating extreme right-wing nationalist policies and charges of inherent racism. As punishment, they were suspended for 31 days until March 22, 2009, without appeal.
Sequence of Events
Scientopian Ultimatum to New Europe
A similar trial was held by the Democratic Duchy of Francisville to determine the guilt of Scientopia and the appropriate punishment for their violation of New Europe's security. It was determined by Francisville and attending jurors that Scientopia was innocent of any serious wrongdoing but ruled that the nation should serve the rest of its twenty-eight day suspension. On March 7, 2009, immediately after the trial, the nation of Scientopia issued an ultimatum to the Empire of New Europe that demanded the Empire "abandon Fascism within your institution or face a formal declaration of war", referring to the Empire's openly Fascist constituent country known as the Social Republic of Illinois. At 23:46 UTC the Empire responded by formally refusing to force the Social Republic to abandon Fascism, remarking "If you want war Scientopia, we'll give you war". As such both states entered into a state of armed conflict at 23:46, with Scientopia later issuing an official declaration of war.
Escelation of Hostilities
According to Scientopia, the war is justified as Scientopian law obligates their government to take a hard-line against Fascist states. The Empire on the other hand asserts that Scientopian is unjustly pressuring one of its constituent countries to change it's fundamental politics and culture, denying New Europe the right to true self governance and determination. The Ríocht na hUlaidh Thair Nhua became the first to become involved in the conflict as a belligerent a day after the commencement of hostilities, entering the war due to standing treaty obligations. Scientopia, which has come to be regarded as one of three possible "micronational superpowers", succeeded in winning the diplomatic support of a number of micronations including both other presumed "superpowers" (Petorio and the USMR).
With no physical conflict yet occurring, both sides suffered a blow when the Ohio Empire - allied to both New Europe and Scientopia - declared neutrality in the war and refused to lend direct support to either ally. Some interpreted this as a positive event for the Scientopian war effort which has been largely concentrated around securing vital diplomatic support for it's campaign to democraticise New Europe by force. Knowing that physical conflict would not be possible due to no consent being given by the Scientopian government and any kind of non-agreed physical offensive constituting a crime under both British and American laws, the New European war effort has thus far been focused upon launching massive cyber attacks against the Scientopian government. More than 1,000 e-mails have been sent to the inbox of the Scientopian government to date in an effort to overwhelm their communication lines and frustrate leaders. On March 13, 2009, the Kingdom of Altania declared war on Scientopia. It's entry was short lived as the cease fire was agreed on two days later.
Potential Belligerents
The Union of Socialist Micronational Republics, generally seen as a political ally of Scientopia, terminated all diplomatic relations with the Empire of New Europe citing "previous attitudes towards the Revolution" and "the long standing friendly relations between Scientopia and the Erusian State and it's legal successor" as their motives for ending all contact with the Empire. At the same time, the USMR declared full diplomatic and political support for Scientopia, stopping short of entering the war fully. Although the Premier of the Union assured parties that the USMR had no intention to become directly involved as a belligerent, a Communist Party legislator proposed the New European Declaration of War Motion to the Supreme General Assembly on March 14, 2009. As the SGA is not currently in session, votes had to be cast according to the in absentia procedure. Licentian legislators voted unanimously in favour of the verdict but the Liberal faction of the Party, generally seen to be lead by Carwyn Jenkins of Erusia, succeeded in preventing the bill from passing.
The Kingdom of Camuria, a supporter of New Europe, has taken a similar stance to the USMR and lent it's full diplomatic support to the Empire. Observers have remarked that Camuria and the USMR serve as a deterrent to one another entering into the conflict as armed combatants. It is clear that if the USMR were to declare war upon New Europe that Camuria would declare war on them and that if Camuria were to declare war on Scientopia the USMR would respond in kind to Camuria. Fortunately it seems, the USMR cannot enter the war unless the Liberal faction of the CPUSMR can be persuaded to back such a conflict and even then, the SGA must wait a minimum of twenty-eight days before attempting to declare war again. Additionally, the Republic of Petorio has yet to involve itself directly in the conflict. Petorian involvement would certainly be in support of Scientopia and would present a major shift in the nature of the conflict.
Cease Fire & Failed Peace Attempts
The Ríocht na hUlaidh Thair Nhua were the first belligerent on the New European side of the conflict to issue an Instrument of Surrender. Accidentally, the Ríocht na hUlaidh Thair Nhua issued their terms of surrender to both Scientopia and the Union of Socialist Micronational Republics, the latter having remained a non-combatant throughout the conflict. This mistake sparked a brief diplomatic crisis that almost resulted in the USMR issuing a unilateral declaration of war against New Europe's ally. Immediate talks between the Emperor and the USMR's Premier quickly lead to the issue being resolved. Later that evening, the Union's Premier successfully persuaded both parties to declare a bilateral ceasefire pending peace talks mediated by Petorio, the USMR and the Democratic Duchy of Francisville.
On March 22, despite initial delays, official peace talks between all belligerents began. After much deliberation the Scientopian government conceded that they would admit they were guilty of aggression against the Empire of New Europe on the condition that the latter instituted a Freedom of Religion Act at the first possible opportunity. Accepting this, the Imperial Government issued demands that Scientopia formally apologise and offer routine reports on its military research for two months after the signing of a formal peace deal. The refusal of Scientopia to apologise to the Empire's senior leadership lead to a breakdown in talks, with the Union of Socialist Micronational Republics formally condemning Scientopia and withdrawing their diplomatic support for the conflict whilst restoring diplomatic links with the Empire of New Europe. Seeing support from the USMR being drained away, Scientopia asserted that the exposure of sensitive information from the New European Parliament had been orchestrated by the GUM and executed by the USMR. These claims are rejected by New Europe initially and the Emperor later asserted that, if they were true, the organisation had demonstrated repentance and as such New Europe bore no ill will towards it or it's members. The next day, on March 23, the Scientopian government formally issued an apology to the New European Emperor and any offended officials. Peace talks were immediately resumed and it was eventually agreed that the original peace deal negotiated the night before would become effective upon the agreement of both parties. A formal treaty was signed between both belligerents and the New Euro-Scientopian War officially came to an end 16 days after the initial declaration of war.
Legacy and Impact
International Relations
The Meissner Antifan War has had a drastic impact on the micronational community surrounding the Grand Unified Micronational. It is generally agreed that the war presented the single most serious diplomatic crisis that the community has ever had to face and that the war came close to tearing the entire community apart on a number of occasions. The war itself was responsible for a number of individual diplomatic crises between GUM members and non-GUM members alike, almost leading to a catastrophic breakdown in relations between the USMR, New Europe and Scientopia. The community has come to know the period of conflict as Black March and leading members of the GUM have repeatedly expressed their desires to avoid such a time again.
Arguably, the events of the New Euro-Scientopian War have been beneficial to long-term diplomatic relations. Both Scientopia and New Europe have expressed a desire to work towards a sustainable peace and the gradual promotion of bilateral ties between the two states. Similarly, the Union of Socialist Micronational Republics has expressed a desire for the development of strong bilateral ties with New Europe in the future, with Foreign Minister Kai Roosevelt remarking that "[...]it is certainly possible that the [Communist] Party will come to advocate a policy of mutual cooperation and security with the [Empire of] New Europe" in the Erusian National Communist Party's internal newspaper. Both the Republic of Petorio and the Democratic Duchy of Francisville have subsequently asserted their own commitment to promoting peace, with Francisville expressing a desire to concentrate on mutual socio-economic development in the community. It is argumentable that this war has been the inspiration for all nations to resort to war instead of diplomacy to work out their differences.
Scientopia and New Europe
The war has had the most significant impact upon Scientopia and New Europe. Scientopia has since reformed it's foreign policy to acknowledge that it is not justified in storing all it's scientific knowledge for internal purposes only and appears committed to pursuing a more cooperative foreign policy in the future. New Europe, meanwhile, has recognised that at times it can appear too Imperialistic and aggressive and as such has asserted that it too will pursue more cooperative foreign policies. In the Empire, popular opinion on the war remains divided, with certain members of government believing that New Europe should have pressed for their original surrender terms if not demanded unconditional surrender from Scientopia. In this respect the conflict effectively demonstrated that the Emperor was capable of controlling more extreme views in the Empire and pursuing a moderate path that reflected the interests of the greater New European community, addressing one of Scientopia's major concerns in doing so.
USMR
Within the Union of Socialist Micronational Republics, the war has had a notable impact on the factional divides of the Communist Party, although it is difficult to discern the long-term impact of the conflict on the Conservative central government. It is known that popular support turned against the Premier for a brief time during the war, even though the Union was not a belligerent, placing the Liberal faction in a position of influence and possible indicating the beginning of a Reformist resurgency in Erusia. Top-level factional negotiations appear to have stabilised the factional divide and restored the delicate internal balance of the Party, although the political platform of Lethler's Conservative faction appears to have been weakened by the drastic shift in foreign policy that occurred towards the end of the war.
Petorio and Francisville
Despite their condemnation of the conflict, it can be argued that Petorio and Francisville have benefited from their role in mediation. With both nations holding important positions in the Grand Unified Micronational and both having conflict mediation as part of their duties, Petorio and Francisville's credentials as international figures have likely been bolstered by their successful mediation of peace talks between the two parties in the war.
Camuria
In the early stages of the war the Camurian Government became divided on whether to join the conflict, and as the war got worse, and Camurian sources on the war began to lose connection, due to not being allowed to see what was going on in the GUM the trust between the monarchy and cetain factions of the Government got worse. The result of the conflict has left a scar in the relationship between the monarchy and the Upper House that is currently being healed.
Coleraine
The Meissner Antifan War left a mark on the early days of the resurrected Gaelic state. Not only did it show Coleraine's determination that peace be preserved, but it also helped cement her alliance with her neighbour New Europe. The conflict also proved the future King Seán Amádeus's steadfast strength in ruling, leading to his ascension to the throne later that year.
References
Scientopian Ultimatum
On March 7, 2009, at 22:21 UTC, the government of Scientopia issued the following ultimatum to the government of the Empire of New Europe:
Scientopian governemnt have decided, in accordance with Article 2, Point 5, Subpoint 2, to offer New Europe a choice; abandon fascism within your institution or face a formal declaration of war.
Just over an hour later, at 23:46, the New European government responded to this communication with the following message:
New Europe rejects this document. If you want war Scientopia, we'll give you war. Read our military motto & learn it well.
Scientopian Declaration of War
Article 1
The intrinsic purpose of this document is to officially move New Europe and Scientopia into a state of war
Article 2
This war was initiated by Scientopia on the grounds of ideological conflict and as an opposition to New Europe's Fascist states
Article 3
Terms for surrender are as follows;
New Europe must abolish its fascist regimes
New Europe must apologise for it's part in the war
New Europe must change their constitution to allow complete freedom of religion
Article 4
If these or newly agreed terms of surrender or armistice are fulfilled, the party must instantly accept the surrender and cease aggression immediately.
Kaiser Wilhelm's address to the New European Parliament
"Und jetzt wird das Schwert entscheiden. Der Feind hat ein ungerechtes und unprevoked Krieg auf unser großen Nation erklärt. Wir haben zu hart gearbeitet, es zu lassen, den alle zerstört werden. Wir werden zeigen, dass Europäer vereint haben, kann nie erobert werden. Wir werden auf mit Gott marsch, als er mit unseren Vorfahren im Vaterland gemacht hat!"
"And now the sword shall decide. The enemy has declared an unjust and unprevoked war on our great nation. We have worked to hard to let it all be destroyed. We will show that Europeans united can never be conquered. We will march on with God, as he did with our ancestors in the fatherland!"- English Translation
New Europe'sTerms for Peace
To the Government of Scientopia,
New Europe offers the terms of peace under the following conditions:
I. That the Scientopian government cease all scientific activity for no less than two months.
II. That you apolgise to the Emperor of New Europe and the other officials of said realm.
III. That you hand over to the Ultach and New European Governments all your military knowledge from the foundation of your nation to the present.
IV. That Scientopia agrees to surendures its GUM authority for the remainder of New European suspension. (repealed)
V. That Scientopia admits aggression towards New Europe.
(Thse are the terms set out by the New European Parliament, all terms are negotiable, and I intend to reach at least a simple cease fire) --New Euro Emperor 03:15, 15 March 2009 (UTC)
Kaiser Wilhelm's address to the New European People at the war's close
"Mein Gefährte Neuen Europäer. Es ist mit großem Vergnügen, das ich die Aussage des Friedens zwischen Neuem Europa und Wissenschaftland ankündige. Der Krieg enden am Montag, am 25. März, 2009 beendet. Dies wird als ein nationaler Feiertag bekannter als "Sieg über Wissenschaftland Tag" markiert werden."
"My fellow New Europeans. It is with great pleasure that I announce the dclaration of peace between New Europe and Scienctopia. The war ended on monday, March 25th, 2009. This shall be marked as a national holiday known as "Victory over Scientopia Day"." - English Translation
Ulaidh Thair Nhua's Terms for Peace
To the Government of Scientopia,
I would wish to offer terms of peace under the following conditions:
I. That you recognise the sovereignty of Ulaidh Thair Nhua.
II. That you hand over to the Ultach and New European Governments all your scientific knowledge from the foundation of your nation to the present.
III. That you make the Roman Catholic Church the dominant faith of your nation, giving political authority to any and all Catholic clergy within your borders.
These terms are negotiable.
Sincerely,
--Archduke of Noamh Séamus 01:36, 15 March 2009 (UTC)
HRH Seán mac Tómás, AOH, ES, ESQ.
Archduke of Noamh Séamus, Barún Cluain Sharoise, Prince Regent of Ulaidh Thair Nhua
Scientopian Apology To New Europe
I, Tsar Royalé Tierney of Scientopia, Officially apologise to the state and state members therein, of New Europe.
We are now privvy to information as to the limiting of fascist power within the state. However, given this information at any point we would have withdrawn. May this be a lesson to all of us, firstly, unless thoroughly versed in the micronation you seek to pressure, refrain. Secondly, if you have information that may end a war put forth on faulty grounds, share it.
I hope to work closely with New Europe in future to provide the foundations to bilateral ties, and the sharing of military technology. My apologies to all members of the New European state.
Tsar Royale Tierney