Great Galactic War
The Great Galactic War, also known as the Ilkhan War, was a galaxy-wide conflict that lasted from 212 UC (2852 AD) to 231 UC (2871 AD). Most of the nations of the galaxy fought as part of two opposing military alliances: the Allied Powers and the Communard Powers. Many participants on both sides used the entirety of their economic and industrial powers to wage the war effort.
The Ilkhan War was by far the deadliest known conflict in galactic history. It resulted in 2.5 trillion casualties; most of these casualties were civilian, as a result of genocides (including the Clades Ilkhana) starvation, disease, and indiscriminate strategic destruction. In the wake of the Communards' defeat, Ilkhai was occupied, and the Diadochus Optimorum was shattered into many feuding clans in a repeat of what had happened to the Arkant Horde.
| Great Galactic War | |
|---|---|
| Date | 212 UC - 231 UC (2852 AD - 2871 AD) |
| Location |
Major theaters: Eastern (Mechyrdia/Ilkhai), Western (Mechyrdia/Diadochi), Northern (Fulkreykk/Ilkhai) |
| Result | Allied victory
|
| Belligerents | |
Allies
|
Communards
|
| Commanders | |
|
|
| Deaths and losses | |
|
Military dead: Estimates range in the billions Civilian dead: Approximately 2 trillion |
Military dead: Estimates range in the billions Civilian dead: Unknown, estimates range in the tens of millions |
Background
The cause of the Ilkhan War is largely agreed to be the Ilkhan Revolution and the rise of the syndicalist oligarchy formally known as the Federation of Ilkhan Collective Communes, yet commonly named the Ilkhan Commune. The Revolution had its roots in a famine in the Mavazh system, the Ilkhan breadbasket, caused by the radiation from a supernova decades ago reaching the several agricultural worlds that orbited the Mavazh stars. Labor unions took advantage of the famine to launch a revolution against the ruling Ilkhan Hegemony, overthrowing King Hhosrava LXIX, executing the entire royal family, and installing a government of their own design.
Course of the war
In 211 UC (2851 AD), the Ilkhan Commune invaded the Niska Regality, ostensibly to spread the people's revolution. This set the Mechyrdian military on high alert, preparing them for the Ilkhan invasion of Mechyrdia a year later, in 212 UC (2852 AD). The Ilkhans had also made deals with the Diadochus Optimorum, the foremost remnant of the Arkant Horde at the time, to invade Mechyrdia from the west as the Ilkhans invaded from the east. The Optimi invaded Mechyrdia in 214 UC (2854 AD), reaching as far as the Vescar sector, yet they retreated back to their home space in 217 UC (2857 AD) when the Ilkhans refused to pay tribute to Khan Cheyghar. The war between Mechyrdia and the Diadochus Optimorum was still technically ongoing during the Ilkhan invasion, as neither side had signed a peace treaty.
In 224 UC (2864 AD), local communal forces of the Gans Tzhaatoi commune sent an invasion northward, into Fulkreyksk space. In response, the Fulkreyksk Authoritariat ended their Interregnum, the long period of their isolationism, and launched a counterattack, taking and occupying Gans Tzhaatoi, Kaiuz, and Arkadiska from the Ilkhans.
The Ilkhan war machine started to slow, as the agricultural reforms made by the new Communal government gradually stopped working. This resulted in the Communard forces pushing to the galactic south of Tyla, into Languavardic space, in order to capture the rural worlds that produce large quantities of food. However, their efforts were in vain. The Ilkhan defeat at Languavarth Prime sealed the fate of the Commune. Military historians agree that after this point, there was nothing the Ilkhan Commune could do to win the war.
The tide turns
Mechyrdian forces retook the occupied portions of Tyla over the course of 224 UC - 227 UC (2864 AD - 2867 AD), and discovered the remnants of the Clades Ilkhana: a genocide of humans within Tyla and a destruction of the Tylans' cultural and religious heritage. The Ilkhan defilement of the Lihann temples on Vensca, in particular, spurred the Tylan people into rage.
Through the years 227 UC - 230 UC (2867 AD - 2870 AD), the Niska Independent Syndicate, a puppet of the Ilkhan Commune, was dismantled, and the Niska Regality was slowly restored as the Mechyrdians liberated more of their territory. The Ilkhan Commune's core territory was invaded from 230 to 231 UC. Mechyrdian and Fulkreyksk fleets and armies met at the Battle of Ilkhai. There, the Fulkreyksk ground forces were reportedly frightened by the Tylan troops' ferocity against the Ilkhans.
End of the war
The war ended with mass suicide of the Ilkhan Commune's civilian leadership, and the signing of an unconditional surrender by Maršal Ghirilqa. The Mechyrdians pulled their expeditionary forces out of the galactic east to be used against the Diadochus Optimorum, which had resumed open warfare with Mechyrdia in late 230 UC (2870 AD). The occupation forces remained in the Niska Regality, to support the Regent's rule, and in the southern part of the former Ilkhan Commune, to establish the Ilkhan Republic. The northern part of Ilkhan space was occupied by the Fulkreyksk Authoritariat.
The Regent of the Niska Regality, Arrenhe ch'Khev, chose to hold a referendum on establishing a constitutional republic or to continue with the aristocratic Regency. The Mechyrdian military forces stationed there were tasked with overseeing the vote. While most of the Mechyrdians supported keeping the Regency, the Niska people voted to establish a republic, and so Regent ch'Khev stepped down and allowed for the formation of a new constitutional government.
The war changed the entire galaxy. The Rathian Consensus was established to foster peaceful cooperation between nations and prevent future wars. Fulkreykk and Mechyrdia emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the decade-and-a-half-long Fulkreyksk Cold War.
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