Second Napoleonic War

Second Napoleonic War
Part of the Avatar Wars
Good game.
Date 2007 - 2008 Location Europe Result Franco-German decisive defeat Territorial changes Western and Eastern Europe partitioned between victors (Treaty of Paris)
Belligerents
France Germany	Eastern Union Free Western Army
Commanders and leaders
Napoléon Bonaparte Otto von Bismarck	Thorvald’s doppelgängers Maxim Brusilov Bernard Montgomery

The Second Napoleonic War (2007-2008) was a pan-European conflict originating from a nationalist insurrection headed by Napoléon Bonaparte. The damage inflicted to all sides during the war was not as bad as the Second World War, yet still on par with the opening of DRAW Your Own Story 10.5. In the aftermath of the war, Europe would be partitioned between the victorious parties for "post-war reconstruction", resulting in spheres of influence that perpetuate to this day.

Blitzkrieg

In late 2007, Bonaparte overthrew the French government and formed the “Sixth Republic”. Shortly thereafter, he began a military campaign that brought neighbouring states under his control. When Otto von Bismarck led a similar coup in Germany, the two nations forged an alliance and began working in tandem, Napoléon’s well-trained fusiliers complemented by Bismarck’s elite armoured divisions. With major powers such as the Coruscantis distracted by the Avatar Uprising, the imperial forces quickly overran most of Europe, reaching far into the Eastern Union within months.

Turn of the tide

File:NapFrontEast.png

Eastern front at the turning point

By 2008, the Eastern Union remained the only continental opponent to the coalition. Despite a strong military presence, its victories had been minimal. Thorvald’s doppelgängers, despite asserting themselves as supreme commanders of Union armed forces, critically mismanaged their resources, leaving nearly half the army stationed in the east as more and more land was lost to the encroaching imperial forces. While they eventually reassigned troops to the west, the winter deadlock was more a result of the weather and German supply failures than tactics.

By April, however, mass resistance emerged in the form of the Free Western Army, a loose coalition of anyone willing to fight the French, led primarily by the United Kingdom. Rallied by the partisans, Marshal Brusilov and other Union generals retook control of the military in direct defiance of the government, rapidly reorganizing the weary divisions and finally pushing back against the invaders. Overstretched and undersupplied, the imperial forces finally broke, and began a rapid retreat to friendly territory. At about the same time, the Free Western Army began a series of amphibious invasions and incursions deep into the mainland, further pressuring the Coalition.

Berlin

Union and Free Western forces met at Berlin, by which time the actual fighting was minimal. The loss of Germany also meant Napoléon lost access to Bismarck’s armoured support, leaving France virtually defenceless against the encroaching enemy. During the final phase of the war, no shots were fired as the joint armies bee-lined for Paris. Napoléon, in a last-ditch gamble, attempted to deploy the country’s nuclear stockpile, but ran into a minefield and was believed killed. With the loss of their leader, French soldiers laid down their arms, and the Allied forces marched unopposed and victorious into the city.

Aftermath

Quickly following the capture of Paris, British, French and Union officials convened in the open area around the Eiffel Tower, drafting and signing the Treaty of Paris the following day. Despite sustaining heavy casualties, Union delegates insisted the final resolution be just not only to the victors, but the defeated parties as well. As consequence, the provisions of the treaty asserted Allied control while protecting the rights of French and German citizens. The aftermath of the war was mixed: within less than a month, the Free Western Army had mustered a standing force well in excess of 2 million troops, and British industry was in overdrive. The Union, by comparison, was left vulnerable, with much of its territory in disrepair and at least a third of its total army assigned to garrison its newly-acquired protectorates. Another half still lay in wait on the east coast in preparation for the eventual invasion of Canada. The remaining 20% had no hope of staying the Combine insurrection that shortly followed.

See also

• Napoléon Bonaparte
• Otto von Bismarck
• Free Western Army
• Eastern Union
• Bernard Montgomery
• Maxim Brusilov