The Enequit Wars were a series of large and devastating wars which occurred on the continent of Enequit from 1910-1926. Enequit during this time was the most unstable it had ever been. However, Entara, the eventual winner of these wars, would shift the balance of power in Aron for years to come.
The conditions which created the Enequit Wars did not occur overnight. Decades of building instability in the region had been slowly priming the powder keg that was Enequit to explode. Events like the 1903 dissolution of Corva-Repsen or the annexation of Nautfranken by Entara in 1886. Conflicts like these, while not directly involved in the Enequit Wars, created the strife between nations necessary for the Enequit Wars to occur. Following the fall of the Corva-Repseni Empire in 1903 Enequit returned to an unsteady peace. This did not last however, as in 1910 the first escalation would begin.
From 1897-1910 Entara would engage in many border skirmishes with the nation of Aquita, a large Southern Enequit power which had been one of the few countries at peace for the last 50 years. In 1902 an Officer corps rebellion would occur in Entara, almost collapsing the government. Although the rebellion was halted by the government, the period of partial civil war was damaging the nation. In 1903 an agreement was reached, the rebellion would disband and the government would escalate the border clashes with Aquita to gain more resources for the Army branch of the military. During the next 7 years government officials would cycle out, slowly getting replaced by more war-oriented ones all while more and more power landed in the hands of the nations Prime Minister. A huge military buildup happened as well and by 1910 Entara was prepared for all out war. In contrast to this Aquita had not done a large amount of military buildup. It had a large military especially due to its size, however Aquita’s greatest strength was on the sea. The ANR (Aquitan Navy of the Republic) was one of the strongest in Aron and held a clear advantage over Entara’s still large, but mostly regional navy. After months of uneventful battles, hell would break loose on one fateful morning: July 24th, 1910.
In the morning hours of August 24th without a declaration of war, over 700 thousand Entaren troops, joined with 60 thousand from its ally Polsha, flooded over the border with Aquita, supported by artillery and shore bombardment. The Aquitan military was in a state of shock, as over the last month communications with the Entaran government had been heading towards a diplomatic solution to the border conflicts. Within 24 hours Entaren troops had pushed heavily into Aquita and captured major cities in border provinces.
Over the following week Aquita ordered a full scale mobilization of its armed forces, however as the million strong Aquitan Army mobilized much of the fighting was done by the nation's 100 thousand border troops and its national guard, the L'eguar de Nationou. As Entara continued the invasion its advance began to slow around the major city of Graten, the capital of the province of Richiellou. With the mobilization of Aquitan forces well under way by this point the siege of Graten took over a month to complete, placing heavy strain on the Entaren supply lines and forcing the overall movement of the front to a crawl. Graten was eventually captured and the advance continued, but by now Aquitan troops were numerous and well dug in causing the front to stabilize as snow began to fall over Aquita.
As winter set in, Entara started a few offensive operations, notably capturing the city of Louvere, a major Aquitan industrial hub. Progress was slow however, and support for the war was already beginning to wane in Entara, as the government had prioritized its military over improvements in living standards and promised great military victories. Entara needed serious success and it needed it soon to keep citizen support. As both sides dug in for the winter their respective field martials drew up plans for the following spring offensives. Once March came around and fighting began on a large scale once again, Entaren troops would begin a pincer attack on the city of Nevenia. Nevenia, a large coastal city on the Gurnee bay, stood as a large rail hub for Aquitan operations and supplies in its southern territories. If Entara could capture the city it would effectively cut off southern Aquita from a majority of its reinforcements and supply lines. This would not be easy however, as Aquitan generals well understood this possibility and had put great effort into fortifying Nevenia and its surrounding suburbs. With the end of winter - and therefore the freezing of the sea around Aquita - the two countries' navies began to fight over control of the Gurnee sea. For Aquita this meant protecting vital supply routes, especially imports of food from Mancharia. Gaining control of the sea would give Entara the ability to starve out Aquita's population, and invade Aquita's ports via naval invasions. With the snow now thawing, these two fronts would determine the course of the entire war.
Over 500 thousand Entaren troops, 30 divisions worth, were slated for Operation Windfall, the codename for the push to capture Nevenia. This amounted to at least half of all Entaren troops on the entire front, which did lead to small losses of territory in other areas. On March 17th, 1911, the push for Nevenia began. Progress was at first comparable to that seen in the first days of the war, and Entaren media took advantage of this, in order to restore the people's faith in the nation. As the advance continued however, the attack slowed, as Entaren troops hit Aquitan defensive lines which had been hastily constructed over the winter. Over the next two weeks Entara continued the push towards Nevenia, arriving at the city's suburbs on April 1st. Progress was slow for the next week as the Entaren advance hit the 150,000 Aquitan troops defending the city. This stage of the battle saw the most intense fighting of the war so far, with Aquitan troops fighting for every house and room. On April 16th Entara captured the Gruile dockyards, forcing the Aquitan navy stationed in the region to retreat to the ports in Ashrend, giving Entara temporary naval superiority. With this victory the advance to the city center sped up, and a full retreat of Aquitan forces was called on April 19th. By the 27th the city was fully encircled with the only remaining Aquitan troops in the city being mainly 12,000 from the 38th Aquitan infantry division. Finally, on May 9th the Entaren flag was raised over the cities government building, marking the end of official resistance in Nevenia. This was a great victory for Entara but a costly one, with over 175,000 reported casualties, much less than Aquita's 80,000. With Nevenia captured Entaren attacks on south Aquita began.
Over the next 2 months Aquitan troops were pushed deeper towards the edge of the Kelmien Peninsula. Over 310,000 troops were trapped on the peninsula with the goal of holding out until winter. These were the 3rd, 7th and 9th Aquitan Army's under field marshal Bastien Degua. If the armies could defend until november it would be cold enough for the strait of Maceri to freeze over and allow the southern armies to retreat to the island of Marisella. With the Aquitan navy pushed out of the southern Aquitan cities, and lacking the necessary troop transports, this was the only chance of escape. Aquitan troops continued to engage in a fighting retreat for the following months. On July 17th the city of Oscrumen was captured. By september the defensive line was barely holding and Aquitan troops were essentially out of supplies and reinforcments. As snow began to fall with the beginning of november the frontline had collapsed and Aquitan troops were in full retreat. With no other way the remaining 230,000 Aquitan troops, now confined to the town of Dulquie', quickly fell back over the Maceri strait. With how quick the front was collapsing Aquitan forces were crossing over a week and a half before the ice would be estimated to be safe. Due to this, they were forced to leave much of their equipment behind in order to minimize weight. Thousands of artillery pieces, supply trucks, wagons, and even machine guns were left behind on the beaches of Dulquie'. Even with these sacrifices the crossing was perilous. 2 days straight of slowly traversing the infinite plain of ice while being hit by freezing winds and at some sections even bombarded by distant Entaren battleships. Between the lack of supplies, below freezing temperatures, and Entaren attacks, the crossing was devastating. Of the 230,000 that began the crossing only 145,000 made it to Marisella. Despite this massive loss of life the operation was sucessful, and over the following months the surviving Aquitan forces were able to rejoin the main frontline in north Aquita. As Entaren forces cleared out the remaining pockets of resistance in the south, attention was turned to the north, particularly the ongoing siege at Blensville.
December 22nd, 1911. After 6 months of fighting Aquita has suffered many losses in the north, almost entirely losing the provinces of Lliobu and Onam. In the south Aquita had prevented Entara from crossing the Maceri Strait, and therefore defended the capital of Ashrend which was a quick stepping stone away from the island of Marisella. After almost 2 years of fighting Aquitan and Entaren officials met in the city of Lanson, Clara to negotiate the Treaty of Calivonia. The terms were harsh for Aquita. The nation would be forced to hand over the provinces of Lliobu and Western Stavvil directly to Entara, while the provinces of Richiellou and regions of Kelmien and Stavvil would be combined to form Rochsprotectaerote-Richiellou, (also known as just Richiellou) an Entaren Satellite state. Finally Aquita was forced to pay Entara 200 million Enue in war reparations.
Following this war the government was chastized for its withdrawl from the conflict. Most of Aquita was still in support of fighting to preserve Aquita. Many in Aquita felt betrayed by the old conservative government and over the next 3 years, multiple revolts would emerge throughout the working class. The largest of these was the Revolution of 1913, which toppled the existing government and installed new radical politicians to lead a new "regency council". Before the revolution the old monarchs of Aquita had been in support of the conservative government, and were forced to flee the country to Ruskuzka once the revolution began. This new regency council quickly began to militarize the nation, tripling the defense budget by 1915 in preparation for a Second Aquitan War.