The Great War (Crown of Anjou and Jerusalem)

Great War
From top to bottom, left to right: Soldiers in a trench praying Soldiers firing Post war Mourning
Date 15 April 1915-2 December 1921 Location Continental Europe, Anatolia, America, Asia, Africa, the Pacific and North Atlantic Result Defeat of the Continental Entente, Treaty of Tourraine
Belligerents
Imperial Powers: Great Britain Kingdom of Rhomania(from 1916) Kingdom of Italy Netherlands Portugal Japan Wallachia(from 1917) Supported by: Germany(by 1917)	Continental Entente: French Empire Russian Εmpire Spanish Empire Kingdom of Prussia Yugoslav Kingdom of Bulgaria Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt(by 1915) Armenian Republic(by 1915) Assyria(by 1915) Moldova(by 1915) Cilician Republic(by 1915) Malikate of Kurdistan(by 1917) Sulu Sultanate(by 1918) Riau Linga Sultanate(by 1918) Deli Sultanate(by 1918)	Berlin Proclamation: Germany Scandinavia Superb Commonwealth Hungary America Bosnia
Non aligned co-belligerents: Iran Kingdom of Georgia Kingdom of Montenegro Despotate of Epirus	China: Great Yue Korea

Introduction - Origins of the Conflict

During the turn of the 19th century, and the arrival of the 20th, a series of conflicts would ultimately decide the fate of many countries, not only around Europe, but around the whole world.As events would escalate further and further, conflicts like the War of the English Empire's succession, or the Sino-Japanese war, along others- Would shape the diplomatic formations of the 20th century and cement the revanchist sentiment of countries like France, and China.

Conflicts that created the European divide

perhaps the most deterministic conflict of the 19th century, which would forever change how Europe functioned, was the English succession war, which saw the defeat of the French backed successor coalition, and triumph of the Holy Roman Empire, German prince Adolf and British allies.However it goes deeper than that, as the war would create an invisible divide amongst European countries, and help further drive away countries from the French sphere, isolating the Empire on the world stage, pushing it towards ratifying a full alliance with the Russian Empire, who they shared many common enemies with (HRE, Britain etc.).

With this development, would culminate in the foundation of the Continental Entente, (or just 'The Alliance') , soon joined by a patchwork of continental powers like Spain, Prussia, and Bulgaria. Their common goal: dismantling the Anglo-German order and reversing the humiliations of the 19th century. which would become the faction mainly driving the conflict.

Anglo-German Rivalry, and opportunist politik

The five years preceding the Great War were rife with proxy conflicts, diplomatic skirmishes, and rising tensions:

• The Sino-Japanese War shattered the East Asian balance of power, with Japan aligning closer to Britain, while China, embittered by territorial losses, leaned into isolationist diplomacy.
• The Bulgarian-Serb Wars, sparked by the decline of Ottoman control and Rhoman expansion, inflamed local nationalism. Bulgaria and Serbia, egged on by French agents, clashed with Rhomanian and Wallachian interests.
• The Anatolian Wars destabilized the Anatolian interior, straining Rhoman military focus towards Russian-aligned nations, like Armenia and Assyria.
• In Africa and the Middle East, imperial proxy wars raged. Russian-backed Egypt and Ahsa eyed strategic British possessions, particularly the Suez, Mesoptamia, and Syria.Russia's interests in the middle east through its proxies, drove it into conflict with Britain, escalating into the Bahraini wars.

Hungarian-Bulgarian crisis

The breaking point of relations between the two Balkan states, was the assassination of Archprince Friedrich-Karl of Hungary, heir to both the Hungarian crown and a major noble house within the Holy Roman Empire, during a visit to the jointly-administered Bulgarian-Hungarian borderlands in Smederevo. He was killed by a Bulgarian nationalist with alleged ties to the Russian-aligned Yugoslav underground.

Although the assassin was immediately caught and disavowed by the Bulgarian royal court, the act was interpreted in Vienna and Frankfurt as a direct provocation by the Continental Entente—a shot not just at an archduke, but at the legitimacy of the post-succession imperial order.

Escalation to Total War (April–June 1915)

April 5, 1915 – The Holy Roman Empire issues an ultimatum to Bulgaria demanding police reform and the purging of Entente-linked officers. France and Russia guarantee Bulgarian sovereignty in response.

April 12, 1915 – Bulgaria rejects the ultimatum.

April 15, 1915 – The Great War begins when Hungarian forces cross the Danube into Serb territories in Bulgaria.

April 18 – France and Russia declare war on the HRE, triggering universal mobilization across their alliance.

April 21 – Britain, bound by strategic interest, joins the war, as do its Dominions and Commonwealths.Invoking several treaties, drawing in multiple other countries.With the exception of Rhomania, which at first remains neutral, wary of its own Anatolian unrest and relationship with Germany, but is rapidly drawn in the following year.

The War of Empires

What distinguishes this war from those before is its truly global scope.British dominions in America, India, and the Pacific take up arms.The French Empire deploys colonial troops from America, West Africa, and Indochina.Japan, with an eye on German Pacific territories and control of the Yellow Sea, enters on the side of Britain.

The War Begins

By the summer of 1915, every continent was engaged. The frontlines stretched from the trenches of Lorraine and the Rhine,To the Carpathians and the Anatolian plateau, to the deserts of Syria, the jungles of West Africa, and the islands of the Pacific.